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OLD  CHURCHES, 


MINISTERS 


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FAMILIES  OF  VIRGINIA. 

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BY  BISHOP   MEADE. 


IN   TWO   VOLUMES. 
VOL.    I. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

J.    B.    LIPPINCOTT    &    CO. 
1861. 


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The  profits  of  this  work,  if  any,  will  be  devoted  to  Missions. 


PREFACE. 


IN  the  fall  of  1854,  the  author,  heing  solicited  to  furnish  some 
personal  reminiscences  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Yirginia,  pro- 
mised two  articles  to  one  of  our  quarterly  Reviews,  which  have 
most  unexpectedly  grown  into  two  octavo  volumes.  He  was  led 
into  this  enlargement  by  the  further  solicitation  of  friends  that  he 
would  extend  his  inquiries  into  former  times;  and  by  the  discovery 
that  there  were  materials,  not  yet  lost  to  history,  of  which  good 
use  might  be  made.  Besides  the  recovery  of  many  old  vestry- 
books,  or  fragments  thereof,  supposed  to  have  been  lost,  he  has, 
either  by  his  own  researches  or  those  of  friends,  found  interesting 
materials  for  his  work  in  a  number  of  the  old  records  of  the  State, 
which  may  yet  be  seen,  though  often  in  a  mutilated  and  moulder- 
ing condition,  in  the  Clerk's  Offices  of  various  counties.  One  of 
these  extends  back  to  the  year  1632,*  and  refers  to  acts  of  a  still 
earlier  date,  while  some  approach  within  a  few  years  of  the  same. 
Other  documents,  of  general  interest  to  all,  and  of  special  interest 
to  Yirginians  and  their  descendants  wherever  found,  have  been 
furnished  from  old  family  records  and  papers,  never  before  used, 
and  which  must  otherwise  soon  have  perished.  The  author  has 
also  wandered,  and  not  a  little,  nor  in  vain,  amidst  old  churches  or 
their  ruins  and  the  graveyards  around  them,  and  the  old  family 
seats.  The  accounts  of  these,  and  the  inscriptions  taken  from  them, 
form  an  interesting  contribution  to  Virginia  history.  For  nothing 
will  the  descendants  of  the  old  families  of  the  State  be  more 
thankful  than  for  the  lists  of  vestrymen,  magistrates,  and  others, 
which  have  been  gathered  from  the  earliest  records,  and  by  means 
of  which  the  very  localities  of  their  ancestors  may  be  traced. 
Nor  has  inquiry  been  limited  to  the  records  of  our  own  State  and 

*  In  the  county  of  Northampton. 


4  .       PREFACE. 

country.  The  archives  of  Parliament,  and  of  Lambeth  and  Ful- 
ham  Palaces,  have,  through  the  kindness  and  labours  of  others, 
furnished  many  important,  deeply  interesting,  and  hitherto  unpub- 
lished documents,  belonging  to  the  history  of  the  State  and 
Church  of  Virginia.  I  shall  not  here  mention  the  names  of  those 
numerous  friends  in  Virginia  and  elsewhere  who  have  kindly 
rendered  me  service  in  the  preparation  of  this  work,  as  they  are 
referred  to  in  one  or  more  of  those  places  where  their  contributions 
are  introduced. 

The  previous  publication,  in  a  weekly  paper,  of  far  the  larger 
part  of  what  is  contained  in  these  volumes  has  not  only  obtained 
very  valuable  contributions,  but  secured  the  correction  of  some 
errors  into  which  the  author  could  not  but  fall  in  such  a  work,  so 
that  it  is  believed  no  material  mistakes  now  remain.  While 
portions  of  the  book  may  have  less  interest  for  the  general 
reader,  being  occupied  with  things  belonging  especially  to  the  his- 
tory of  Virginia,  yet  it  is  hoped  that  even  those  may  be  found 
worthy  of  perusal,  while  far  the  larger  part  relates  to  what  should 
be  the  subject  of  inquiry  to  all  wrho  wish  to  be  informed  on  the 
ecclesiastical  history  of  our  country. 

The  table  of  contents  will  greatly  facilitate  a  reference  to  the 
numerous  topics  which  have  been  introduced. 

It  was  the  intention  of  the  writer  to  have  presented,  in  this  pre- 
face, a  general  view  of  the  most  important  subjects  treated  of,  and 
to  have  stated  the  chief  results  to  which  his  own  mind  had  come  in 
the  investigation  of  the  same,  by  way  of  improvement  and  appli- 
cation; but  time  and  opportunity  are  wanting,  and  the  reader 
must  be  left  to  judge  and  decide  for  himself  after  examination. 

The  work,  which  has  cost  much  labour  and  research,  and  in  the 
execution  of  which  it  has  been  endeavoured,  and  not  without 
prayer,  to  deal  fairly  with  all,  is  now  commended  to  the  blessing 
of  Heaven  and  the  candour  of  the  public. 

WILLIAM  MEADE,  D.D., 

Bishop  of  the  P.  E.  C.  of  Va. 

May  15,  1867. 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL  I. 


ARTICLE   I. 

PAOB 

UNFAVOURABLE  circumstances  of  the  Church  from  the  first — Scarcity  of  ministers 
— Rev.  Mr.  Hunt's  character — Want  of  a  Bishop — Messrs.  Whitefield,  Davies, 
Jarrett — Causes  of  prejudice  against  the  Church — Rev.  Dr.  Griffith  chosen 
Bishop — Bishop  Madison — General  Convention  of  1811  considered  the  Church 
of  Virginia  in  danger  of  total  ruin — Evil  character  of  her  clergy — The  author's 
first  recollections — Old  chapel  in  Frederick — Rev.  Mr.  Balmaine — Rev.  Mr. 
Thruston— Rev.  Mr.  Muhlenburg — Rev.  Mr.  Wiley — No  family  prayers  at  that 
day- — Mr.  Philip  Nelson's  family — Bishop  Madison's  visit  to  Frederick — Rev. 
Mr.  Addison  and  the  author — Character  of  the  preaching  in  Virginia — In- 
troduction of  evangelical  preaching — Bishop  Porteus — Wilberforce — General 
Nelson  and  family — Author's  ordination  and  previous  correspondence  with 
Bishop  Madison — Williamsburg — Author's  ministry  in  Alexandria — Rev. 
Bryan  Fairfax  and  General  Washington — Rev.  Bernard  Page — Author's  set- 
tlement in  Frederick,  and  missionary  labours  in  surrounding  counties — Ordi- 
nation to  the  priesthood  by  Bishop  Claggett — Bishop  Claggett's  personal 
character 13 

ARTICLE  II. 

My  return  to  Frederick — Missionary  labours — Mr.  Balmaine — Bishop  Madison's 
death — Convention  of  1812 — Rev.  Mr.  Low— Second  Convention — Third — 
Bishop  Moore's  election — Convention  of  1815 — Code  of  laws  revised — Names 
of  the  clergy  who  engaged  in  the  work  of  reviving  the  Church — Theological 
Seminary — First  at  Williamsburg — General  Seminary — Clerical  associations 
— Conventions  assume  a  religious  character — Lay  delegates  required  to  be 
communicants — Tractarianism  condemned — Use  of  the  Liturgy  and  vestments 
in  Virginia — Glebes  and  salaries  withdrawn — President  Madison's  opinion 
and  course  of  action — His  mother — Low  state  of  morals  in  the  Church — The 
same  in  other  denominations,  North  and  South — Concluding  remarks — The 
past  and  present — Means  used  for  the  revival  of  the  Church — Death  of  Bishop 
Moore — Election  of  Bishop  Johns 36 

ARTICLE  III. 

Parish  of  James  City — The  first  settlement  in  Virginia — Missionary  spirit  of 
its  founders  in  England — Sir  Walter  Raleigh — Peter  Martyr — Richard  Hak- 
luyt — Sir  Philip  Sydney — Rev.  Robert  Hunt — Captain  Smith — Early  trials — 
Wingfield — Sack  used  for  the  Communion — First  church — Rev.  Robert  An- 
derson— Colonial  churches — Conway  Robinson's  visit  to  England,  and  dis- 
covery of  valuable  documents — Piety  of  Captain  Smith — Rev.  Mr.  Bucke — 
Sir  Thomas  Gates — Lord  De  la  War — Missionary  sermons  in  England — Rev. 
Mr.  Crashaw — Second  and  third  churches  at  Jamestown — The  two  Ferrars, 
John  and  Nicholas — Laudian  tendencies — Rev.  Mr,  Whittaker — Rev.  George 
Herbert's  interest  in  the  colony 62 

ARTICLE  IV. 

Kindness  to  the  natives  still  urged — Prayer  to  be  used  by  the  watch  on  guard 
— Sir  Thomas  Dale — New  Bermuda  and  Henricopolis  established — Mr.  Whit- 
taker's  life  and  character — Rolph  and  Pocahontas — Places  of  her  residence, 
baptism,  and  marriage — Visit  to  England — Death — Her  descendants  in  Vir- 
ginia   73 

5 


CONTENTS. 


ARTICLE  Y. 

PAQl 

Reflections  on  the  marriage  of  Rolpli  and  Pocahontas — Rev.  Mr.  Fontaine's  and 
Colonel  Byrd's  opinion— Burke's  account  of  her  descendants — John  Randolph 

Journal  of  a  meeting  of  Burgesses  in  1619,  discovered  by  Mr.  C.  Robinson, 

of  Richmond,  while  in  London — Education  in  Virginia — College  in  Henrico 

Liberal  donations — Fifteen  thousand  acres  of  land  on  James  River  set  apart 

for  the  College— Rev.  Mr.  Copland— Rev.  Mr.  Hargrave — Massacre  of  1622 — 
Proposed  removal  of  all  the  colonists  to  the  Eastern  Shore — Entire  change  of 
eeling  toward  the  Indians — Virginia  ceases  to  be  a  missionary-field 81 

ARTICLE  VI. 

Company  sends  over  a  number  of  virtuous  young  females  to  Virginia,  King 
James  as  many  convict  men — First  cargo  of  slaves  from  Africa — Reflections 
on  the  same  in  a  note — The  ministers  deteriorate  in  character — Number  of 
small  parishes  near  Jamestown — Rev.  Mr.  Hampton — Rev.  Mr.  Gough — 
Bacon's  rebellion — Colonel  Mason  and  Captain  Brent,  of  Stafford — Commis- 
sary Blair  its  minister — Rev.  Mr.  Le  Neve — Rev.  Mr.  Berkeley — Rev.  John 
Hyde  Saunders — Bishop  Madison — His  reported  infidelity  untrue — Church 
on  the  main — The  graveyard  at  Jamestown — The  sacred  vessels  presented  to 
that  church 8& 

ARTICLE  VII. 

Connection  between  the  Amblers  of  Virginia  and  those  of  Yorkshire  in 
England — Rev.  George  Ambler,  of  Wakefield,  England — Connection  of  the 
Speaker,  Shaw  Lefevre — The  Jaquelines  of  Huguenot  descent — Edward 
Ambler,  of  Jamestown — Jaqueline  Ambler,  of  Richmond — Their  mother — 
Dr.  Buchanon — Extracts  from  his  sermon  on  the  death  of  the  Treasurer, 
Jaqueline  Ambler — Jamestown  as  it  now  is — Recent  visit  to  it — Most  of  the 
old  town  in  the  river — The  old  church,  when  built — The  graveyard — Com- 
missary Blair's  tomb — Mrs.  Blair's,  The  Ludwells'.  Lees',  Jaquelines',  Am- 
blers', &c.— Size  of  the  island,  value,  &c.— The  Main  Church — Vault  under  it  103 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

Further  proofs  of  the  religious  spirit  of  the  enterprise  from  the  instructions  of 
King  James — The  high  character  of  its  patrons  in  England — Bishop  of  Can- 
terbury, &c. — Further  remarks  on  the  Code  of  Laws,  "Martial,  Moral,  and 
Divine" — The  times  and  modes  of  daily  worship  among  the  people  and  sol- 
diers— Charge  from  the  Chief-Marshal  to  his  colonel — Troubles  of  the  colony 
after  Hunt's  death  ascribed  to  their  want  of  a  preacher,  among  other  things 
— A  fine  passage,  or  God's  providence  over  the  colony — Letter  to  Edwin 
Sandis  about  the  College 116 

ARTICLE  IX. 

Henrico  parish — Dale's  gift — Ferrar's  Island — Dutch  Gap — Remnants  of  Sir 
Thomas  Dale's  house  and  that  of  Rolpli  and  Pocahontas  still  seen — Bermuda 
Hundred  settled  the  same  year — Whittaker — Rock  Hall — Glebe — Letter  of 
Rolph  to  Sir  Thomas  Dale  about  his  marriage — Conway  Robinson — Jefferson's 
Church — Journal  of  the  Burgesses  in  1619 — An  important  document — Letter 
of  the  Earl  of  Essex  to  the  Earl  of  Southampton 123 

ARTICLE  X. 

The  Indian  character,  by  Mr.  Whittaker — Rolph's  return  to  Virginia,  and  second 
marriage — His  brother's  petition  to  the  Assembly — Preparations  for  the  Col- 
lege— Mr.  Thorpe — One  hundred  young  women  ordered  over  to  Virginia — Wil- 
liam Randolph,  and  Bacon  the  rebel,  early  settlers  in  Henrico — Rev.  Messrs. 


CONTENTS.  7 

PAOH 

Wickam  and  Stockara  ministers — Mr.  Blair — Parish  in  1724 — Rev.  Mr.  Stitli 
— Curls  Church  built  by  Richard  Randolph — Sketch  of  the  Randolphs — 
Rev.  Miles  Selden — St.  John's  Church,  Richmond — Meeting  of  the  Revolution- 
ary Assembly  in  it — First  vestrymen  after  the  Revolution — Dr.  Buchanon — 
Richmond  during  the  war — Blair  and  Buchanon  the  only  ministers — The 
House  of  Burgesses  the  only  place  of  worship — Bishop  Moore — The  Rev.  Mr. 
Hart — Case  of  the  Glebe — Font  from  Curls  Church — Rev.  Mr.  Lee — Messrs. 
Peet,  Croes,  Morrison,  Kepler,  Nichols,  Woodbridge,  Norwood,  Jackson,  Jones, 
Empie,  Bolton,  Duval,  Walker,  Webb,  Cummings,  Peterkin,  Minegerode 134 

ARTICLE  XI. 

Williamsburg,  Bruton  parish — First  minister  known  to  us,  Rowland  Jones — Sides- 
men and  vestrymen — First  church — Present  church — John  Page — Autobio- 
graphy of  Governor  Page  and  genealogy  of  the  family — Rev.  Messrs.  Sclater 
and  Eburne — Beginning  of  the  contest  between  vestries  and  Governors — 
Rev.  Messrs.  Doyley  and  Whately — Andros — Nicholson — Commissary  Blair — 
Spottswood — State  of  the  question  between  the  vestries  and  Governors — In- 
duction— Though  allowed,  not  enjoined,  and  seldom  practised,  at  this  day — 
Vestries  prepared  the  way  for  the  Revolution — The  Convention  of  1776  com- 
posed of  vestrymen — A  list  of  that  Convention — Commissary  Blair's  character 
— Extracts  from  his  sermons,  showing  what  was  the  style  of  his  preaching...  146 

ARTICLE  XII. 

Mr.  Blair,  as  Founder  and  President  of  the  College — As  one  of  the  Council — His 
conflict  with  Andros — Their  trial  in  London,  before  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury and  the  Bishop  of  London — Triumph  of  Blair — Contest  with  Nicholson — 
His  triumph — Nicholson  and  Miss  Burwell — Many  of  the  clergy  against 
Blair — Governor  Nott — Colonel  Spottswood — The  Commissary  and  himself 
soon  disagree — Spottswood's  high  views  of  the  Governor's  power — Becomes 
unpopular — Blair  and  himself  at  open  issue  before  the  Convention — Journal 
of  the  Convention — Spottswood  superseded  by  Drysdale — Character  of  the 
clergy  of  that  day  as  set  forth  by  Blair,  Drysdale,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Forbes,  and 
others — Rules  proposed  by  which  to  decide  when  a  minister  was  drunk — 
Governor  Spottswood  and  family — Different  accounts  of  it 157 

ARTICLE  XIII. 

Commissary  Dawson — President  Dawson — Brothers — Best  ministers  educated 
at  the  College — Case  of  discipline — Rev.  Mr.  Davies,  Presbyterian  minister, 
comes  to  Virginia — Rev.  William  Yates,  President  of  the  College — Rev. 
William  Robinson,  Commissary — Rev.  Mr.  Horrocks,  President  and  Commis- 
sary— Question  of  having  a  Bishop  discussed — Convention  called — Negatived 
— Opinion  of  Bishop  White  and  Dr.  Hawks — President  Nelson's  letter  to  his 
friend  in  London — Rev.  Mr.  Camm,  President  and  Commissary— Dismissed  by 
the  Visitors,  and  Mr.  Madison  chosen  President — Revolution  coming  on — Day 
of  prayer  and  fasting  appointed  in  1774 — George  Mason's  letter  on  the  sub- 
ject— Infidelity  finding  its  way  into  Virginia — Infecting  the  College — Young 
men  sent  to  Northern  Colleges — Correspondence  between  the  Bishop  of  London 
and  the  Visitors  of  William  and  Mary — Dr.  Halyburton — Troubles  in  the  Col- 
lege— Dr.  Bracken — Drs.  Smith,  Keith,  Wilmer,  Empie — The  Rev.  Mr.  Hodges 
— Mr.  Ewell — Rev.  Mr.  Denison — Rev.  George  Wilmer — List  of  vestrymen 16* 

ARTICLE  XIV. 

Notices  of  leading  characters — Daniel  Parke — John  Custis — Daniel  Parke,  Jr. 
— His  treatment  of  Mrs.  Blair — His  execution — Sir  John  Randolph — Peyton 
Randolph — Mr.  Evelyn — Edmund  Randolph — Letters  to  his  children — George 
Nicholas — Robert '  C.  Nicholas — Lord  Botetourt — Mrs.  Nicholas — Letter  to 
her  son,  W.  C.  Nicholas— Mr.  Burwell  Bassett— Mr.  Robert  Saunders— 
Thoughts  on  the  basis  of  the  Virginia  character — The  fathers  and  founders 
of  the  fajnilies  of  Virginia,  from  whence  came  the  great  men  of  the  Revolution, 


g  %      CONTENTS. 

PAGB 

were  men  of  education,  ministers,  teachers,  lawyers,  doctors,  merchants, 
Huguenots,  farmers,  Cavaliers  in  the  time  of  Cromwell,  and  some  of  his  fol- 
lowers afterwards — Virginia  no  place  for  turning  paupers  into  rich  men,  or 
ignorant  men  into  learned  ones — No  education  for  the  poor 180 

ARTICLE  XV. 

Graveyard  around  the  church — Mutilated  condition  of  the  tombs — Some  buried  in 
the  church — Some  in  the  College  chapel — Names  of  persons  with  epitaphs — Rev. 
Roland  Jones — Governor  Nott — Philip  Ludwell — Thomas  Ludwell — Richard 
Kemp — Thomas  Lunsford — Philip  Ludwell,  Jr. — Colonel  John  Page — Mrs. 
Alice  Page — Francis  Page — Mary  Page — Michael  Archer — Joanna  Archer — 
Catherine  Thorp — Thomas  Thorp — Edward  and  Blumfield  Barradall — Colonel 
David  Bray — Elizabeth  Bray — David  Bray — John  Greenhow — Tombs  of  Colo- 
nel David  Parker  and  Nathaniel  Bacon  in  adjoining  fields — Tombs  of  Mrs. 

.  Bacon  and  the  Rev.  Thomas  Hampton  on  the  bank  of  York  River — Chicka- 
hominy  Church — Extracts  from  the  old  records  of  the  court  and  the  College....  194 

ARTICLE  XVI. 

York-Hampton  parish — Change  of  name — Rev.  Francis  Fontaine  first  minister — 
Rev.  John  Camm — Rev.  Mr.  Shield — Mr.  Graham  Frank — Temple  Farm — Go- 
vernor Spottswood's  summer  residence — York  almost  deserted  of  people  and 
ministers  after  the  war — Description  of  York — Old  York  House — Sketch  of  the 
Nelson  family — President  Nelson — Intimacy  with  Bishop  Porteus — Mr.  Camm's 
sermon  at  his  death — Mrs.  Nelson — Her  pious  character — General  Nelson — 
Judge  Tucker's  biography  of  him — His  generosity — His  honourable  character 
— His  religious  principles — The  place  of  his  burial — Chattellux's  account  of 
the  family  at  Offley,  in  Hanover — Loss  of  documents  relating  to  President  and 
General  Nelson — Inscriptions  on  the  tombs  around  the  old  church  in  York 202 

ARTICLE  XVII. 

The  question  of  the  Two-Penny  Act,  or  Option-Law,  considered — Mr.  Camm  the 
champion  of  the  clergy — The  principle  tried  by  a  suit  with  his  vestry — Pre- 
vious Acts  of  Assembly  prepared  the  way  for  it — Governor  Dinwiddie  con- 
demned the  Act,  but  would  not  veto  it — Mr.  Camm  sent  to  England — The 
Crown,  Bishop  of  London,  and  Privy  Council  condemned  it,  but  dared  not  take 
effective  measures  against  it — Suits  brought  in  Virginia  by  several  clergymen 
— The  case  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Maury — Patrick  Henry — Pamphlets  of  Camm, 
Landon  Carter,  and  Richard  Bland — Mr.  Wirt's  opinion  -of  the  case — Patrick 
Henry's  religious  character  and  Church-preferences — Roger  Atkinson's  letter 
about  him  and  the  other  delegates  from  Virginia  to  the  first  Congress — Justi- 
fying reasons  for  the  course  of  the  clergy — Past  and  present  condition  of  York 
— Its  future  prospects 216 

ARTICLE  XVIII. 

Hampton,  or  Elizabeth  City  parish — Its  early  settlement — Records  of  the  court, 

1685 — Early  ministers — Offences  punished — Old  church  at  Pembroke  farm 

Tombstones — Succession  of  ministers — Warrington  and  Selden — Condition  in 
1724 — Present  church — Desecration  by  the  English — Mrs.  Carrington's  letters 
about  Commodore  Warrington — Rev.  Mr.  Skyren's  tomb — Revival  of  the  Church 

— Mr.  Servant's  letter — List  of  the  vestrymen — Parishes  in  Warwick Visit  to 

Warwick — Denbigh  House  and  Church — The  Diggeses,  Coles,  and  Carys Old 

court  records — Names  of  early  settlers — Visit  to  Bellfield,  on  York  River 

Tombs  and  inscriptions  of  the  Diggeses 229 

ARTICLE  XIX. 

Lynnha-Ken  parish— Cape  Henry — Parish  before  1642 — Oldest  church  and  grave- 
yard Tinder  water — History  of  it — Vestry-book,  1723 — List  of  clergy  and 
vestrymen — The  churches — Present  condition — Causes  of  its  decline 246 


CONTENTS. 


ARTICLE  XX. 

PAGE 

Northampton — Early  names — Sir  William  Berkeley's  Asylum — Records  of  the 
court  go  back  to  1632 — The  oldest  in  Virginia — Strict  discipline  by  the 
court — Instances  of  it — The  whole  subject  considered — The  treatment  of  the 
Quakers  here  and  elsewhere — Instances  of  piety  and  charity — Stephen  Charl- 
ton  and  the  glebe — Colonel  Norwood's  visit  to  the  Eastern  Shore — Mr. 
Stringer  and  Major  Custis — Succession  of  ministers — List  of  vestrymen — 
Parsonage — Case  of  the  glebe  considered — Bowdoin  family — Custis  family..  252 

ARTICLE  XXI. 

Parishes  in  Accomac — Ministers — Mr.  Black  in  1724 — Charity-school  endowed 
by  Mr.  Sanford  still  existing — A  premium  for  the  baptism  and  instruction  of 
every  Indian  or  negro — Patriotism  of  the  Episcopal  clergy — Mr.  Jefferson's 
testimony — Rev.  Cave  Jones — Rev.  Mr.  Eastburn — Letter  from  his  brother, 
Bishop  Eastburn — Principal  families  in  Accomac 264 

ARTICLE  XXII. 

Division  of  Norfolk  in  1691 — Colonel  Byrd's  description  of  Norfolk  in  1728 — 
Names  of  its  ministers — Three  parishes  in  Norfolk  county — Dispute  between 
"Whitehead  and  Bland — Mr.  John  Southgate's  letter — Origin  of  the  present 
constitution  of  Christ's  Church,  Norfolk — St.  Paul's  Church — Its  history — 
Families  in  and  around  Norfolk — Commodore  Dale — Ministers  of  Portsmouth 
parish — Yellow  fever  in  1856 — Rev.  Messrs.  Jackson  and  Chisholm 271 

ARTICLE  XXIII. 

Nansemond — Its  early  settlement — Contiguity  to  North  Carolina — Colonel 
Byrd's  account  of  North  Carolina — The  character  of  the  people  and  clergy — 
Christina — Mr.  Griffin — Mr.  Fontaine — His  plan  for  converting  the  Indians 
— The  Rev.  Mr.  Anderson's  history  of  the  clergy  who  were  sent  to  North 
Carolina  different  from  Mr.  Byrd's  account 282 

ARTICLE  XXIV. 

Vestry-book  begins  in  1743 — First  vestrymen — List  of  the  vestry — Account  of 
the  churches — List  and  character  of  the  clergy — Troubles  of  the  vestry  with 
unworthy  ministers — Number  of  Reddicks  in  the  vestry — Andrew  Meade,  the 
first  vestryman  and  churchwarden  on  the  list — His  family — Sketch  of  it  by 
Colonel  David  Meade,  of  Kentucky — The  old  church  in  Suffolk — The  old 
graveyard  at  Mount  Pleasant , 289 

ARTICLE  XXV. 

Isle  of  Wight—Early  settlement— Rev.  Mr.  Falkner  in  1662— Destruction  of 
records  by  Tarleton — Old  Smithfield  Church — An  evergreen  plucked  from 
its  walls — Other  churches — Ministers — Annoyance  from  the  Quakers — Fami- 
lies— Part  of  a  vestry -book  found — Its  contents — Part  of  another  vestry-book 
belonging  to  Chuckatuck  parish — Its  contents — Southampton  county — Its 
parishes,  churches,  and  ministers — Surrey  county — Its  churches-  and  minis- 
ters— Recent  efforts  to  revive  the  Church — The  Harrison  family — Sussex 
county — The  old  vestry-book — It  was  born,  lived,  and  died  under  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Willie 299 

ARTICLE  XXVI. 

Parishes  in  Charles  City — Early  settlement — Divisions — Peter  Fontaine — Colo- 
nel Byrd — The  family  of  Byrd — The  family  of  Fontaines — Annual  meeting— 


10  %        CONTENTS. 

PAGB 

Peter  Fontaine's  temperance — Other  ministers — Old  Westover  ^Church  and 
graveyard — Present  Westover  Church — Other  churches — Families — No  ves- 
try-book    3:H 

ARTICLE  XXVII. 

Gloucester— Petsworth  and  Kingston — Vestry-book  from  1677  to  1793 — Pets- 
worth  Church — The  bricks  removed  when— A  description  of  it — Its  ministers 

Extracts  from  the  vestry-book — Names  of  the  vestrymen — Kingston  parish 

— Mathews— List  of  ministers— Peculiar  vestry  meetings— Churches— Eliza- 
beth Tompkins — Names  of  vestrymen  and  families 321 

ARTICLE  XXVIII. 

Letter  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Mann  on  Ware  and  Abington  parishes — No  vestry- 
book List  of  ministers  from  the  tombs  and  elsewhere — Principal  families — 

Condition  of  Abington  in  1724 — Age  of  Abington  Church — Ware  repaired — 

Dr.  Taliafcro Mrs.  Vanbibber — Richard  Kempe — Governor  Page — Rosewell 

Debt   contracted   by   it — Folly   of    large   and    expensive    houses — Major 

Lewis  Burwell,  of  King's  Mill,  guilty  of  the  same — Governor  Page's  letters  to 
his  children — Old  stone  chimney  built  by  Captain  Smith  at  Timberneck — 
Powhatan's  residence — Letter  of  Captain  Smith  to  Queen  Anne  concerning 
Pocahontas — The  Rev.  Mr.  Fontaine's  sermon  on  the  death  of  Mrs.  Page — 
The  Page  family , 328 

ARTICLE  XXIX. 

Selim,  the  Algerine — Early  classical  education  at  Constantinople — Taken  by 
pirates  and  carried  to  New  Orleans — Sent  up  the  Ohio — Escaped  and  came 
to  Staunton — Found  nearly  dead  in  the  woods — Kindly  treated,  and  taught 
the  religion  of  Christ — Embraced  it — Dissatisfied — Returned  to  Algiers — Dis- 
owned by  his  parents — Came  back  deranged — Went  to  Williamsburg — In- 
timate with  the  professors,  with  the  families  in  York  and  at  Rosewell,  and 
with  Councillor  Carter,  of  Nominy — Goes  with  Governor  Page  to  Philadelphia 
— His  picture  taken  by  Peale — Hung  up  at  Rosewell — Now  in  Williamsburg 
—Death 341 

ARTICLE  XXX. 

Visit  to  Gloucester — Examination  of  the  old  stone  chimney — Convinced  that 
it  is  the  one  built  by  Captain  Smith — Question  whether  Timberneck  or 
Shelly  is  the  site  of  Powhatan's  residence — Examination  of  the  tombs  at 
Timberneck — Inscriptions — Tombs  at  Rosewell — Inscriptions — Tombs  at 
Carter's  Creek  or  Fairfield — Inscriptions — Tombs  in  Ware  Church  concealed 
by  the  floor — Inscriptions  on  them , 349 

ARTICLE  XXXI. 

Parishes  in  Middlesex — When  established — First  minister — Henry  Corbin — 
Churches — Rev.  Mr.  Shephard — Major  Smith — Rev.  Mr.  Read — His  legacy 
— The  Yateses — Their  worth — Tombstone  of  Bartholomew  Yates — Rev.  Mr. 
Heffernon — Legacy  of  Mr.  Churchill — The  pretender  Robinson 356 

ARTICLE  XXXII. 

Middlesex  a  nursery  for  other  parts  of  Virginia — List  of  vestrymen — Many 
members  of  the  Council  from  it — Robert  Beverley — Duty  of  vestrymen — 
Matthew  Kempe — Claims  of  Governor  Nicholson — Edward  Northy's  opinion 
— A  few  families  owned  all  Middlesex — Brandon  and  Rosegill — Major  John 
Grymes— Epitaph— Grymes  family — Wormleys — Captain  Bayley — Colonel 
Chewning — Rev.  Messrs.  Rooker  and  Carraway 364 


CONTENTS.  11 

ARTICLE  XXXIII. 

PAGE 

Parishes  in  King  and  Queen  and  King  William — Stratton  Major — Rev.  Mr.  Skaife 
— Commissary  Robinson — Robinson  family — Speaker  Robinson — His  epitaph 
— Vestry-book — Vestrymen — Church  near  Corbin's — Recently  removed — St. 
Stephen's  parish — King  William  county — Its  churches  still  standing — Rev.  Mr. 
Dalrymple's  account  of  them — Rev.  Mr.  Skyren — Letter  concerning  him 374 

ARTICLE  XXXIV. 

Parishes  in  New  Kent — St.  Peter's  and  Blissland — Old  vestry-book  of  St.  Peter's 
— Governor  Nicholson's  imperious  letters — Rev.  Mr.  Morgan's  letter  to  the 
Bishop  of  London  as  to  the  morals  of  the  clergy  and  people — Rev.  Mr.  Lang's 
letter — List  of  the  clergy  from  1696 — Rev.  Mr.  Mossom — Mr.  Jarratt — List 
of  vestrymen — Blissland  parish — Little  known  of  it 383 

ARTICLE  XXXV. 

Parishes  in  Essex  county — South  Farnham — Two  churches  both  destroyed  ruth- 
lessly— Rev.  Mr.  Latane — Governor  Spottswood's  interference  in  his  behalf — 
Succession  of  ministers — Latane  family — Temples 389 

ARTICLE  XXXVI. 

.  St.  Anne's  parish — Rev.  Mr.  Bagge — Controversy  with  the  vestry — Governor 
Spottswood  espouses  his  cause,  but  fails — Rev.  Robert  Rose — His  journal 
found — Executor  to  Mr.  Bagge,  Spottswood,  and  others — Benevolent  and 
active  character — Charity  to  the  poor — Four  brothers  came  with  him  from 
Scotland — His  children — His  wives — His  journeyings — His  death — Epitaph 
— Mr.  Smelt  succeeds  him — Father  of  Caroline  Smelt — Other  ministers — 
Families  in  the  parish — Dangerfield  family — Lomax  family — Micous — 
Matthews 396 

ARTICLE  XXXVII. 

Parishes  in  Caroline  county,  St.  Mary's,  St.  Margarett's,  St.  Asaph's,  and  Drys- 
dale — St.  Mary's — List  of  ministers — Rev.  Mr.  Boucher — Rev.  Mr.  Waugh — 
Churches — Mount  Church — Its  organ — Its  profanation — Present  use — Reedy 
Greek  Church — Joy  Creek  Church — St.  Margarett's — Its  ministers — Families 
— Letter  from  a  friend  about  it — St.  Asaph's  and  Drysdale — Ministers — 
Laymen — Judge  Pendleton — Letter  of  his  to  Richard  Henry  Lee — Petition  to 
the  Legislature  against  using  intoxicating  liquors  at  elections,  drawn  up 
and  headed  by  Judge  Pendleton,  signed  by  the  leading  men  of  Caroline 
county 409 

ARTICLE  XXXVIII. 

Parishes  in  Hanover — St.  Paul's  and  St.  Martin's — Rev.  Mr.  Brooke  first  minis- 
ter— Rev.  Charles  Bridges  next — His  attention  to  the  servants — Letter  to  the 
Bishop  of  London — Division  of  the  parish — Ministers  in  them — The  Revs. 
Patrick  Henry,  Robert  Barrett,  &c. — Character  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Philips — 
Families  in  Hanover — Old  Mrs:  Berkeley,  of  Airwell,  and  the  Communion- 
plate — Old  Mrs.  Nelson — Her  authority  over  her  sons — Her  poverty — Her 
death— Mr.  Frank  Nelson 419 

ARTICLE  XXXIX. 

Dissent  finds  its  way  into  Hanover — The  treatment  of  Dissenters  in  Virginia 
considered — Misrepresentations  of  it  examined — A  case  stated — Treatment 
of  the  Quakers  misunderstood — Their  treatment  in  Accomac — Governor 
Spottswood  and  the  Quakers — The  Baptists — Rev.  Mr.  Maury's  pamphlet 


12  •        CONTENTS. 

PAGl 

concerning  them — Mr.  Sample's  acknowledgment — Case  of  Rev.  Samuel 
Davies  and  the  Presbyterians  in  Hanover — Address  of  five  Episcopal  clergy- 
men to  the  House  of  Burgesses  about  Mr.  Davies  and  his  followers — Governor 
Gooch  and  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle — History  of  the  introduction  of 
Presbyterianism  into  Virginia — Correspondence  between  Dr.  Davies,  the 
Bishop  of  London,  and  Dr.  Doddridge — Result  of  the  whole 426 

ARTICLE  XL. 

Parishes  in  Prince  George  county — Martins  Brandon  and  Bristol — No  vestry-book 
of  Martins  Brandon — Rev.  Mr.  Finnie — His  funeral-sermons — Other  minis- 
ters— Churches,  old  and  new — Bristol  parish — Why  so  called — Its  ministers 
— Robertson  its  minister  for  forty-six  years — His  account  of  the  parish  in 
1724 — Succession  of  ministers — Churches — Old  Blandford — Many  others — 
Petersburg  made  up  of  four  towns — Names  of  the  vestrymen  from  the  old 
vestry-book — Genealogy  of  the  Blands — Old  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Grammar — Rev. 
Mr.  Slaughter's  history  of  the  parish 437 

ARTICLE  XLI. 

Parishes  in  Chesterfield — Dale  and  Manchester — Dale  parish — Rev.  George 
Frazer — Rev.  Mr.  McRoberts — His  defection — Correspondence  with  Jarratt — 
Rev.  William  Leigh — The  Watkins  family — Churches — Old  Saponey — Wood's 
Church — Controversy  about  it — Still  standing — Manchester  parish — Its 
ministers — Churches — Falling  Creek  Church — Affecting  account  of  it — Old 
Mr.  Patterson— The  Cary  family 448 

ARTICLE  XLII. 

St.  James  Northam,  Goochland  county — Vestry-book — Rev.  Mr.  Gavin — His 
letter  to  the  Bishop  of  London — Rev.  Mr.  Douglass — His  register  and  notes 
— A  letter  from  him — Rev.  Mr.  Hopkins  and  his  descendants — Rev.  William 
Lee — List  of  vestrymen — Churches — Parsonage  the  gift  of  Mr.  William  Boi- 
ling  • 456 

ARTICLE  XLIII. 

King  William  parish,  or  Manakintown — The  Huguenot  settlement — Sketch  of 
the  Huguenot  history — Henry  IV. — Huguenots  in  America — In  Virginia — The 
Fontaine  and  Maury  families — Succession  of  ministers  at  Manakin — The 
Dupuy  family— Names  of  the  Huguenot  families  of  Virginia 463 

ARTICLE  XLIV. 

Parishes  in  Dinwiddie  and  Brunswick  counties— Bath  parish— Succession  of 
ministers — Sketch  of  the  Rev.  Devereux  Jarratt — Mrs.  Jarratt — St.  Andrew's 
parish— Its  churches— Its  ministers— Its  vestrymen— Meherrin  parish,  Green- 
ville— Its  ministers  and  churches — Tarleton's  visit  to  it 469 

ARTICLE  XLV. 

Parishes  in  Lunenburg,  Mecklenburg,  and  Charlotte— Cumberland  parish— 
Vestry-book— Ministers  and  churches— Caution  in  employing  ministers- 
Clement  Read— Rev.  Mr.  Craig— His  patriotism— Tarleton's  visit  to  his  mill 
-Rev.  Dr.  Cameron— His  school— Hon.  Duncan  Cameron— Long  list  of 
vestrymen- -Mr.  Buford— St.  James  parish,  Mecklenburg— Principal  families 
—Rev.  Mr.  Micklejohn— Anecdotes  of  him— Bishop  Ravenscroft— The  Nel- 
sons—Minister  of  the  count 


OP 


VIRGINIA. 


[From  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Quarterly  Review.] 

ARTICLE  I. 

Recollections  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  Virginia, 
during  the  Present  Century.  With  a  Brief  Notice  of  its  Earlier 
History.  By  BISHOP  MEADE.* 

IT  is  a  useful  employment  for  societies  as  well  as  individuals  to 
look  back  through  their  past  history  and  mark  the  dealings  of  a 
kind  Providence  towards  them.  The  History  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  of  Virginia  has  been,  from  the  very  beginning,  a  most  inte- 

*  Having  been  urged  to  furnish  some  personal  recollections  of  the  Church  in 
Virginia  for  this  Review,  I  have  consented;  and  in  this  article  commenced  the 
delicate  task.  The  candid  and  the  charitable  will  make  due  allowance  for  the 
peculiar  difficulties  of  it,  especially  that  of  avoiding  the  frequent  mention  of 
myself.  Had  I  kept  a  diary  for  the  last  fifty  years,  and  taken  some  pains  during 
that  period  to  collect  information  touching  the  old  clergy,  churches,  glebes,  and 
Episcopal  families,  I  might  have  laid  up  materials  for  an  interesting  volume;  but 
the  time  and  opportunity  for  such  a  work  have  passed  away.  The  old  people, 
from  whom  I  could  have  gathered  the  materials,  are  themselves  gathered  to  their 
fathers.  The  vestry-books,  from  which  I  could  have  gotten  much,  and  some  of 
which  I  have  seen,  are,  for  the  most  part,  either  lost,  or  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
persons  who  use  them  for  the  establishment  of  land-claims  or  bounties,  the  regis- 
ter of  baptisms  and  marriages  sometimes  rendering  them  assistance  in  their  work. 
Small,  therefore,  is  the  contribution  I  can  make  to  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  my 
native  State.  To  Dr.  Hawks's  elaborate  and  able  work  I  must  refer  the  reader 
for  the  earlier  history  of  the  Episcopal  Church  of  Virginia.  A  brief  notice  of  that 
period  is  all  that  is  necessary  to  prepare  him  for  my  own  reminiscences,  and  that 
is  furnished.  W.  M. 

13 


14  OLD    CIHJRCHES,    MINISTERS,  AXD 

resting  and  eventful  one— beyond  that  of  any  other  Diocese  in  the 
Union.  I  would  briefly  refer  to  some  of  its  particulars,  in  order 
to  raise  our  hearts  in  gratitude  to  God  for  its  wonderful  preserva- 
tion, and  to  make  us  more  faithful  and  zealous  in  using  the  proper 
means  for  its  further  advancement. 

The  Episcopal  Church  of  Virginia  commenced  with  the  first 
settlement  of  the  first  Colony.  The  code  of  laws  of  that  Colony 
was  drawn  up  at  a  time  when  "religion  (as  Bishop  Taylor  expresses 
it)  was  painted  upon  banners,"  for  it  was  "divine,  martial,  and 
moral,"  all  in  one,  being  enforced,  even  among  Protestants,  by 
civil  pains  and  penalties  which  we  would  fain  now.  banish  from  our 
recollections  and  blot  from  the  page  of  history.  That  there  was 
much  of  sincere  piety  moving  the  hearts  of  those  who  incorporated 
the  forms  of  the  Episcopal  Church  with  the  Colony  of  Virginia, 
as  well  as  of  those  who  established  other  forms  among  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers  of  New  England,  I  doubt  not.  Nor  do  I  question  the 
piety  and  fidelity  of  some  of  the  people  and  pastors  during  its 
whole  subsequent  history.  But  that  its  spiritual  condition  was  ever, 
at  any  time,  even  tolerably  good,  bearing  a  comparison  with  that 
of  the  Mother-Church,  over  whose  defects  also  there  was  so  much 
cause  to  mourn,  faithful  history  forbids  us  to  believe.  Many  were 
the  disadvantages  under  which  she  had  to  labour,  during  nearly  the 
whole  period  of  her  existence  in  connection  with  the  government 
of  England,  which  were  well  calculated  to  sink  her  character 
beneath  that  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  of  some  other 
churches  in  America.  Immense  were  the  difficulties  of  getting  a 
full  supply  of  ministers  of  any  character;  and  of  those  who  came, 
how  few  were  faithful  and  duly  qualified  for  the  station !  One  who 
was  indeed  so  faithful  as  to  be  called  the  Apostle  of  Virginia  at 
an  early  period  of  its  settlement,  lamenting  over  the  want  of 
ministers  in  the  Colony,  thus  upbraids  those  who  refused  to  come. 
"  Do  they  not  either  wilfully  hide  their  talents,  or  keep  themselves 
at  home,  for  fear  of  losing  a  few  pleasures  ?  Be  not  there  any 
among  them  of  Moses  and  his  mind,  and  of  the  Apostles,  who 
forsook  all  to  follow  Christ?"  The  Council  of  Virginia  also 
addressed  the  most  solemn  and  pathetic  appeals  to  the  clergy  of 
Engbm1,  beseeching  them  to  come  over  to  the  work  of  the  Lord  in 
the  Colony — though,  it  is  to  be  feared,  with  little  success;  for  in 
the  year  1655  it  is  recorded  that  many  places  were  destitute  of 
ministers,  and  likely  still  to  continue  so,  the  people  not  paying 
their  "accustomed  dues."  There  were,  at  this  time,  about  fifty 
parishes  in  the  Colony,  most  of  which  were  destitute  of  clergy- 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  15 

men,  as  there  were  only  ten  ministers  for  their  supply.  To 
remedy  this  evil  it  was  proposed  to  establish  in  the  English  Uni- 
versities Virginia  fellowships,  imposing  it  as  a  condition,  that  the 
fellows  spend  seven  years  in  Virginia ;  but  we  do  not  read  of  its 
execution.  That  the  ministers  then  in  the  Colony  were  men  of 
zeal  can  scarce  be  supposed,  as  a  law  was  required  enjoining  it 
upon  them  to  preach  constantly  every  Sabbath  and  administer  the 
sacrament  at  least  twice  every  year.  If  we  proceed  in  the  history 
of  the  Colony  another  fifty  years,  which  will  carry  us  beyond  the 
first  century  of  its  existence,  we  shall  find  only  a  few  more 
parishes  established,  and,  though  glebes  and  parishes  had  been 
provided,  not  more  than  one-half  of  the  congregations  were  sup- 
plied with  ministers,  the  rest  being  served  by  lay-readers.  In 
some  places  indeed  lay-readers  were  preferred  to  settled  minis* 
ters,  because  less  expensive  to  the  parishioners.  As  to  the  un- 
worthy and  hireling  clergy  of  the  Colony,  there  was  no  eccle- 
siastical discipline  to  correct  or  punish  their  irregularities  and 
vices.  The  authority  of  a  Commissary  was  a  very  insufficient  sub- 
stitute for  the  superintendence  of  a  faithful  Bishop.  The  better 
part  of  the  clergy  and  some  of  the  laity  long  and  earnestly  peti- 
tioned for  a  faithful  resident  Bishop,  as  the  Bishop  of  London  was, 
of  necessity,  only  the  nominal  Bishop.  For  about  two  hundred 
years  did  the  Episcopal  Church  of  Virginia  try  the  experiment 
of  a  system  whose  constitution  required  such  a  head  but  was 
actually  without  it.  No  such  officer  was  there  to  watch  over  the 
conduct  and  punish  the  vices  of  the  clergy;  none  to  administer 
the  rite  of  Confirmation,  and  thus  admit  the  faithful  to  the  Supper 
of  the  Lord.  It  must  be  evident  that  the  Episcopal  Church, 
without  such  an  officer,  is  more  likely  to  suffer  for  the  want  of 
godly  discipline  than  any  other  society  of  Christians,  because  all 
others  have  some  substitute,  whereas  our  own  Church  makes  this 
office  indispensable  to  some  important  parts  of  ecclesiastical 
government  and  discipline.  Such  being  the  corrupt  btate  of  the 
Church  in  Virginia,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  here,  as  in  England, 
disaffection  should  take  place,  and  dissent  begin.  The  preaching 
and  zeal  of  Mr.  Whitefield,  who  visited  Virginia  about  this  time, 
contrasted  with  the  sermons  and  lives  of  the  clergy  generally,  con- 
tributed no  doubt  to  increase  disaffection.  The  pious  Mr.  Davies, 
afterwards  President  of  Princeton  College,  made  the  first  serious 
inroad  upon  the  unity  of  the  Church.  His  candid  testimony 
deserves  to  be  here  introduced.  "  I  have  reason  to  hope,"  he  says, 
"  that  there  are  and  have  been  a  few  names  in  various  parts  of  the 


16  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

Colony  who  are  sincerely  seeking  the  Lord  and  groping  after  re- 
ligion in  the  communion  of  the  Church  of  England."  "  Had  the 
doctrines  of  the  Gospel  been  solemnly  and  faithfully  preached  in 
the  Established  Church,  I  am  persuaded  there  would  have  been 
few  Dissenters  in  these  parts  of  Virginia,  for  their  first  objections 
were  not  against  the  peculiar  rites  and  ceremonies  of  that  Church, 
much  less  against  her  excellent  Articles,  but  against  the  general 
strain  of  the  doctrines  delivered  from  the  pulpit,  in  which  these 
Articles  were  opposed,  or  (which  was  the  more  common  case)  not 
mentioned  at  all,  so  that  at  first  they  were  not  properly  dissenters 
from  the  original  constitution  of  the  Church  of  England,  but  the 
most  strict  adherents  to  it,  and  only  dissented  from  those  who  had 
forsaken  it." 

That  there  was  at  this  time  not  only  defective  preaching,  but, 
as  might  be  expected,  most  evil  living  among  the  clergy,  is 
evident  from  a  petition  of  the  clergy  themselves  to  the  legis- 
lature asking  an  increase  of  salary,  saying  "that  the  small 
encouragement  given  to  clergymen  is  a  reason  why  so  few  come 
into  this  Colony  from  the  Universities,  and  that  so  many  who  are 
a  disgrace  to  the  ministry  find  opportunities  to  fill  the  parishes." 
It  is  a  well-established  fact  that  some  who  were  discarded  from  the 
English  Church  yet  obtained  livings  in  Virginia.  Such  being  the 
case,  who  can  question  for  a  moment  the  entire  accuracy  of  the 
account  both  of  the  preaching  and  living  of  the  clergy  of  his  day, 
as  given  by  the  faithful  and  zealous  Mr.  Jarrett?  and  who  could 
blame  him  for  the  encouragement  afforded  to  the  disciples  of  Mr. 
Wesley,  at  a  time  when  neither  he  nor  they  thought  there  could 
be  a  separation  from  the  Church  of  England?  Dissent,  from 
various  causes,  was  now  spreading  through  the  Commonwealth ; 
dissatisfaction  with  the  mother-country  and  the  Mother-Church  was 
increasing,  and  the  Episcopal  clergy  losing  more  and  more  the 
favour  of  God  and  man,  when  this  devoted  minister,  almost  alone 
in  preaching  and  living  according  to  the  doctrine,  discipline,  and 
worship  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  was  glad  to  avail 
himself  of  any  aid  in  the  good  work  he  was  endeavouring  to  per- 
form. For  the  time,  however,  his  efforts  were  unavailing.  The 
War  of  the  Revolution  was  approaching,  and  with  it  the  downfall 
of  the  Church.  Many  circumstances  contributed  to  this  event. 
The  opposition  to  the  Dissenters  in  times  past  had  embittered 
their  minds  against  the  declining  Establishment.  The  attach- 
ment of  some  few  of  the  clergy  to  the  cause  of  the  king  sub- 
jected the  Church  itself  to  suspicion,  and  gave  further  occa- 


FAMILIES    OF    VIRGINIA.  17 

sion  to  its  enemies  to  seek  its  destruction.  The  dispute  about 
Church  property  now  came  on,  and,  for  twenty-seven  years,  was 
waged  with  bitterness  and  violence.  At  the  commencement  of  the 
War  of  the  Revolution,  Virginia  had  ninety-one  clergymen,  offi- 
ciating in  one  hundred  and  sixty-four  churches  and  chapels;  at  its 
close,  only  twenty-eight  ministers  were  found  labouring  in  the  less 
desolate  parishes  of  the  State.  Whither  numbers  of  them,  had  fled, 
and  to  what  secular  pursuits  some  of  them  had  betaken  themselves, 
it  is  not  in  our  power  to  state.  Had  they  been  faithful  shep- 
herds, they  would  not  have  thus  deserted  their  flocks. 

We  come  now  to  the  efforts  of  the  more  faithful  to  strengthen  the 
things  that  remained  but  were  ready  to  die.  In  common  with 
some  other  dioceses,  the  Church  in  Virginia  resolved  on  an  effort  to 
obtain  consecration  from  abroad  for  a  Bishop  who  might  complete 
her  imperfect  organization.  A  very  worthy  man,  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Griffith,  was  selected  for  the  purpose ;  but  so  depressed  was  her 
.condition,  so  little  zeal  was  found  in  her  members,  that,  though 
for  three  successive  years  calls  were  made  upon  the  parishes  for 
funds  to  defray  his  expenses  to  England,  only  twenty-eight 
pounds  were  raised,  a  sum  altogether  insufficient  for  the  purpose, 
so  that  the  effort  on  his  part  was  abandoned  through  poverty  and 
domestic  affliction.  Even  at  a  subsequent  period,  when  renewed 
efforts,  prompted  by  shame  at  past  failures  and  a  sense  of  duty 
to  the  Church,  were  made  to  secure  what  was  necessary  for 
Bishop  Madison's  consecration,  a  sufficiency,  even  with  some 
foreign  aid,  was  not  obtained  to  pay  all  the  necessary  expenses 
of  the  voyage.  The  object,  however,  was  accomplished,  and  at 
the  end  of  almost  two  hundred  years  from  the  establishment  of  a 
most  imperfect  Church  in  Virginia  a  Bishop  was  obtained.  But 
she  was  too  far  gone,  and  there  were  too  many  opposing  difficulties, 
for  her  revival  at  that  time.  From  the  addresses  of  Bishop 
Madison  to  the  Episcopalians  of  Virginia,  it  will  be  seen  that  he 
entered  on  his  duties  with  no  little  zeal  and  with  very  just  views 
of  the  kind  of  men  and  measures  necessary  for  the  work  of  re- 
vival. He  plainly  admits  the  want  of  zeal  and  fidelity  in  many 
of  the  ministers  as  one  of  the  causes  of  the  low  condition  of  the 
Ohurch,  and  that  the  contrary  qualifications  were  indispensable  to 
her  resuscitation.  He  made  an  ineffectual  effort  at  bringing  back 
into  the  bosom  of  the  Church  the  followers  of  Mr.  Wesley,  for 
they  had  now  entirely  separated  from  her.  After  a  few  partial 
visitations  of  the  Diocese,  his  hopes  of  the  revival  of  the  Church 
evidently  sunk;  and  the  duties  of  the  College  of  William  and 


18  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

Mary,  of  which  he  was  President,  requiring  his  attention  during 
the  greater  part  of  the  year,  at  the  Convention  of  1805  he  called 
for  a  Suffragan  or  Assistant  Bishop.  The  subject  was  referred  to 
the  next  year's  Convention,  but  no  such  meeting  was  held,  nor 
was  there  another  until  after  his  death.  For  seven  years  it 
seemed  as  if  the  worst  hopes  of  her  enemies  and  the  most  painful 
fears  of  her  friends  were  about  to  be  realized  in  her  entire 
destruction.  In  the  General  Convention  of  the  Church,  held  in 
the  city  of  New  Haven  in  1811,  there  was  no  representation  nor 
any  report  whatever  from  Virginia.  The  following  entry  is  found 
on  the  journal  :  —  "  They  fear,  indeed,  that  the  Church  in  Virginia 
is  from  various  causes  so  depressed,  that  there  is  danger  of 
her  total  ruin,  unless  great  exertions,  favoured  by  the  blessing 
of  Providence,  are  employed  to  raise  her."  And  what  more 
could  be  expected  from  the  character  of  the  clergy  generally  at 
that  time,  or  for  a  long  time  before  ?  It  is  a  melancholy  fact, 
that  many  of  them  had  been  addicted  to  the  race-field,  the  card- 
table,  the  ball-room,  the  theatre,  —  nay,  more,  to  the  drunken 
revel.  One  of  them,  about  the  very  period  of  which  I  am  speak- 
ing, was,  and  had  been  for  years,  the  president  of  a  jockey-club. 
Another,  after  abandoning  the  ministry,  fought  a  duel  in  sight 
of  the  very  church  in  which  he  had  performed  the  solemn  offices 
of  religion.*  Nothing  was  more  common,  even  with  the  better 


*  Another  preached  (or  went  into  an  old  country  church,  professing  to  do  it) 
four  times  a  year  against  the  four  sins  of  atheism,  gambling,  horse-racing,  and 
swearing,  receiving  one  hundred  dollars  —  a  legacy  of  some  pious  person  to  the 
minister  of  the  parish  —  for  so  doing,  while  he  practised  all  of  the  vices  himself. 
When  he  died,  in  the  midst  of  his  ravings  he  was  heard  hallooing  the  hounds  to 
the  chase.  Another,  —  a  man  of  great  physical  powers,  —  who  ruled  his  vestry 
with  a  rod  of  terror,  wished  something  done,  and  convened  them  for  the  purpose. 
It  was  found  that  they  were  unwilling  or  unable  to  do  it.  A  quarrel  ensued. 
From  words  they  came  to  blows,  and  the  minister  was  victorious.  Perhaps  it  is 
fair  to  presume  that  only  a  part  —  perhaps  a  small  part  —  of  the  vestry  was 
present.  On  the  following  Sabbath  the  minister  justified  what  he  had  done  in  a 
sermon  from  a  passage  of  Nehemiah:  —  "And  I  contended  with  them,  and  cursed 
them,  and  smote  certain  of  them,  and  plucked  off  their  hair." 

This  account  I  received  from  two  old  men  of  the  congregation,  of  the  most  un- 
impeached  veracity,  one  or  both  of  whom  was  present  at  the  sermon. 

All  indeed  of  the  cases  alluded  to  in  the  note  and  the  text  came  so  near  to  my 
own  time  and  even  ministry,  that  the  truth  of  them  was  assured  to  me  by  those 
whose  testimony  was  not  to  be  doubted.  Gladly  would  I  be  spared  the  painful 
reference  to  them  and  others,  could  it  be  done  without  unfaithfulness  to  the  task 
undertaken.  In  consenting  to  engage  in  it,  which  I  have  done  with  reluctance,  it 
became  my  duty  to  present  an  honest  exhibition  of  the  subject,  and  not  misrepre- 
sent by  a  suppression  of  the  truth.  God  has  set  us  the  example  of  true  fidelity 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA. 

» 

portion  of  them,  than  to  celebrate  the  holy  ordinance  of  Baptism, 
not  amidst  the  prayers  of  the  congregation,  hut  the  festivities 
of  the  feast  and  the  dance,  the  minister  sometimes  taking  a  full 
share  in  all  that  was  going  on.  These  things  being  so,  and  the 
churches  having  been,  on  account  of  such  things,  almost  entirely 
deserted  or  else  occupied  by  those  who  only  held  our  Zion  up  to 
derision,  what  but  a  firm  conviction  of  God's  watchful  providence 
over  her  could  keep  alive  hope  in  the  most  ardent  of  her  friends  ? 
How  often,  in  looking  at  the  present  comparative  prosperity  of 
the  Church,  do  we  say,  Surely  God  must  have  greatly  loved  this 
branch  of  his  Holy  Catholic  Church  or  he  would  not  have 
borne  so  long  with  her  unfaithfulness  and  so  readily  forgiven 
her  sins. 

Having  presented  this  brief  sketch  of  the  past  history  of  the 
Church  in  Virginia,  I  now  proceed  to  execute  the  task  assigned 
me  by  stating  some  things  which  came  more  or  less  under  my  own 
personal  observation. 

My  earliest  recollections  of  the  Church  are  derived  from  visits, 
while  yet  a  child,  to  the  Old  Stone  Chapel  in  Frederick  county, 
(then  the  back-woods  of  Virginia,)  either  on  horseback,  behind  my 
father,  or  with  my  mother  and  the  children  in  my  grandmother's 
English  chariot,  drawn  by  four  /work-horses  in  farming-gear, — 
richer  gear  having  failed  with  failing  fortunes.  Some  of  the 
neighbours  went  in  open  four-horse  plantation-wagons,  very  dif- 
ferent from  the  vehicles  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed  in 
Lower  Virginia,  whence  they  emigrated.*  My  father  took  an 


in  the  biographical  and  historical  notices  which  pervade  the  sacred  Scriptures. 
The  greatest  failings  of  his  best  saints,  as  well  as  the  abominations  of  the  wicked, 
are  there  faithfully  recorded  as  warnings  to  all  ages ;  though  there  are  those  who 
think  that  it  had  been  better  to  have  passed  over  some  unhappy  passages.  I  have 
gone  as  far  as  conscience  and  judgment  would  allow  in  the  way  of  omission  even 
of  things  which  have  passed  under  my  own  eyes.  Some  of  those  who  are  hostile 
to  our  Church  have  dwelt  much,  from  the  pulpit  and  the  press,  on  the  evil  conduct 
of  many  of  our  old  ministers,  and  doubtless  have  oftentimes  overrated  this  evil, 
while  making  no  acknowledgment  of  any  good.  Some  of  our  own  people,  on  the 
other  hand,  have  been  disposed  to  ascribe  to  malice  much  of  that  which  belongs  to 
truth.  Let  us  seek  the  truth.  It  is  not  only  mighty  and  will  prevail,  but  will  do 
good  in  the  hands  of  the  God  of  truth.  Often  and  truly  has  it  been  said  of  the 
Church,  in  certain  ages  and  countries  where  evil  ministers  have  abounded,  that  but 
for  God's  faithful  promise,  those  ministers  would  long  since  have  destroyed  it.  It 
is  some  relief  to  my  mind  to  be  able  to  add,  that  in  almost  all  the  unhappy 
instances  to  which  I  have  made  reference,  it  pleased  Providence  to  ordain  that 
they  should  leave  no  posterity  behind  to  mourn  their  fathers'  shame. 

*  My  father  had  considerable  possessions  in  land  and  servants  in  Lower  Vir- 


20  OLD   CIHJRCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

active  part  in  the  erection  of  this  house,  which  was  about  seven 
miles  distant  from  his  residence.  It  was  here  that  I  officiated 
during  the  first  twenty-five  years  of  my  ministry.  The  con- 
gregation, which  now  worships  in  a  larger  one  four  miles  off,  makes 
a  kind  of  pilgrimage  to  it  on  one  Sabbath  each  summer.  It  is 
still  used  for  service  in  behalf  of  coloured  persons,  and  on  funeral 
occasions.  Near  it  lies  the  parish  burying-ground,  where  many 
dear  friends  and  relatives  are  interred,  and  where  I  hope  to  find 
a  grave.  The  Rev.  Alexander  Balmaine,  a  chaplain  in  the 
United  States  Army  during  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  and  who 
was  married  to  a  relative  of  Mr.  Madison,  one  of  the  Presidents 
of  our  country,  was  the  minister  of  it  for  more  than  thirty 
years,  during  the  last  ten  or  twelve  of  which  I  was  associated 
with  him.  He  lived  in  Winchester,  and  preached  alternately 
there,  in  a  stone  church  of  about  the  same  size,  and  at  the 
chapel. 

There  was  a  small  wooden  church  very  near  the  chapel,  which 
was  built  before  the  war,  and  in  which  the  Rev.  Mr.  Thruston  offi- 
ciated. The  Baptists  were,  in  his  day,  establishing  themselves  in 
this  part  of  the  Valley  of  Virginia.  With  them,  it  is  said,  he  had 
much  and  sharp  controversy.  On  the  declaration  of  war  he  laid 
aside  the  ministry  and  entered  the  army,  attaining  before  the  close 
of  it  to  the  rank  of  Colonel,  by  which  title  he  was  known  to  the 
end  of  his  days.  About  twelve  miles  from  my  father's,  in  a  direc- 
tion opposite  to  the  chapel,  there  was  another  small  log  church,  in 
which  the  Rev.  Mr.  Mughlenburg,  afterwards  General  Mughlen- 
burg,  occasionally  officiated.  He  was  the  minister  of  the  adjoining 
parish  in  Shenandoah  county  and  lived  at  Woodstock.  He  also 
exchanged  the  clerical  for  the  military  profession  and  rose  to  the 
rank  of  General.  Tradition  says  that  his  last  sermon  was  preached 
in  military  dress,  a  gown  being  thrown  over  it,  and  that  he  either 
chose  for  his  text  or  introduced  into  his  sermon  the  words  of 


ginia,  but  lost  nearly  all  during  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  in  which  he  served 
ns  aid  to  General  Washington.  At  the  close  of  it,  gathering  up  what  little 
remained  of  money,  and  a  very  few  servants,  he  removed  to  the  rich  and 
beautiful  Valley  of  Frederick,  lying  between  the  Blue  Ridge  and  Alleghany 
Mountains.  The  whole  country  was  little  else  than  a  forest  at  that  time.  For 
a  small  sum  he  purchased  a  farm,  with  two  unfinished  log  rooms,  around  which 
the  wolves  nightly  howled.  Laying  aside  the  weapons  of  war,  he  took  himself  to 
hard  work  with  the  axe,  the  maul,  and  other  instruments,  while  my  mother 
exchanged  the  luxuries  and  ease  of  Lower  Virginia  for  the  economy  and  'tiligence 
of  a  Western  housewife. 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  21 

Ecclesiastes,  "  To  every  thing  there  is  a  season,  and  a  time  to 
every  purpose  under  the  heaven," — "a  time  of  war  and  a  time  of 
peace,"  and  that,  the  sermon  being  over,  he  laid  aside  the  gown 
and  walked  forth  the  soldier  in  dress  and  office.  He  was  esteemed 
a  very  upright  and  patriotic  man.  I  have  often  in  my  younger 
days,  and  indeed  after  my  entrance  upon  the  ministry,  seen  a  poor 
old  lady  at  the  chapel  in  Frederick,  who  sat  under  his  ministry 
and  still  lived  near  his  log  church.  Being  twenty  miles  off  from 
the  chapel,  she  would  come  on  horseback  either  to  Winchester  or 
to  the  house  of  my  elder  sister  over  night.  Her  visits  were  gene- 
rally on  communion-days,  and  she  always  partook  of  it  fasting. 
She  spoke  well  of  her  minister  as  one  who  was  faithful  to  his  duty, 
for  he  rode  twenty  miles  to  preach  to  a  few  poor  people  in  one  of 
the  poorest  parts  of  the  country.  My  next  recollections  of  the 
Church  are  in  the  person  of  my  teacher,  who  was  educated  in 
General  Washington's  Free  School  in  Alexandria,  and  afterward 
on  account  of  his  promising  talents  sent  to  William  and  Mary 
College.  At  the  end  of  his  literary  course  he  was  admitted  to 
Deacons'  orders  by  Bishop  Madison.  A  year  or  two  after  this  he 
became  teacher  to  the  children  of  those  few  families  who  composed 
almost  the  whole  of  the  chapel  congregation.  He  was  faithful  as 
a  classical  teacher,  heard  us  our  catechism  once  a  week,  and  for 
some  time  opened  the  school  with  prayer.  He  officiated  also  for  a 
period  at  the  chapel  on  those  Sundays  which  Mr.  Balmaine  gave 
to  Winchester;  but,  his  habits  becoming  bad,  he  ceased  ever  after 
to  exercise  the  ministerial  office,  being  fully  conscious  that  he  had 
mistaken  his  calling.  He  left  no  posterity  to  be  wounded  by  this 
statement,  or  I  should  have  forborne  to  make  it.*  During  this 


*  Although  there  was  no  such  thing  as  family  prayers  at  that  day,  yet  was  the 
Catechism  taught  in  many  families  of  the  Church ;  pincushions  to  the  girls  and 
trap-balls  to  the  boys  were  sometimes  given,  in  the  parish  of  Frederick,  by  the  wife 
of  the  old  parish  clerk,  as  a  reward  for  accuracy  in  saying  it  to  the  minister.  My 
mother  also  (as  was  the  case  with  many  others)  made  her  children  get  and  repeat 
some  of  the  hymns  of  the  Prayer  Book,  especially  Bishop  Ken's,  for  morning  and 
evening,  and  repeat  some  short  prayer  at  her  bedside.  In  my  father-in-law's  family 
(Mr.  Philip  Nelson,  who  has  often  been  seen  in  our  State  and  General  Conventions) 
the  practice  of  reading  the  Psalms,  as  arranged  in  the  Prayer  Book,  was  regularly 
practised  each  day  by  the  females,  so  that  my  wife,  at  our  marriage,  could  repeat 
nearly  the  whole  book  of  Psalms.  Her  father  used  to  hear  his  children  the  Cate- 
chism every  Sabbath  morning  before  breakfast ;  and  on  the  one  after  our  marriage 
she  took  her  accustomed  place  at  the  head  of  six  or  eight  children  and  performed 
her  part.  She  was  then  eighteen  years  of  age.  It  was  doubtless  the  practice  of 
repeating  the  Catechism,  reading  the  Psalms  and  other  Scriptures  daily,  and  using 


22  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

period  of  my  life  I  had  no  other  means  of  gaining  a  knowledge  of 
the  Church  and  her  clergy  than  from  my  parents  at  home.  When 
there  was  no  service  at  the  chapel  or  we  were  prevented  from 
going,  my  father  read  the  service  and  a  sermon ;  and  whenever  a 
death  occurred  among  the  servants  he  performed  the  burial  service 
himself,  and  read  Blair's  Sermon  on  Death  the  following  Sunday. 
Of  the  character  and  conduct  of  the  old  clergy  generally  I  have  often 
heard  them  speak  in  terms  of  strong  condemnation.  My  father, 
when  a  young  man,  was  a  vestryman  in  Prince  George  county, 
Virginia,  but  resigned  his  place  rather  than  consent  to  retain  an 
unworthy  clergyman  in  the  parish.  Of  two  clergymen,  however, 
in  King  George  county, — the  Stewarts, — I  have  heard  my  mother, 
who  lived  for  some  time  under  the  ministry  of  one  of  them,  speak 
in  terms  of  high  commendation,  as  exceptions  to  the  general  rule. 
At  the  age  of  seventeen  I  was  sent  to  Princeton  College,  where,  of 
course,  I  had  no  opportunities  of  acquiring  any  knowledge  of  the 
Church,  as  it  had  no  existence  there  at  that  time,  though  it  was 
while  there  that  I  formed  the  determination,  at  the  instance  of  my 
mother  and  elder  sister,  to  enter  the  Episcopal  ministry,  as  they 
perceived  from  my  letters  the  serious  turn  of  my  mind.  I  ought 
to  have  stated  above  that  my  confirmation  took  place  at  a  very 
early  period,  during  the  first  and  only  visit  of  Bishop  Madison  to 
this  part  of  Virginia.  I  have  but  an  indistinct  recollection  of  his 
having  heard  some  of  us  the  Catechism  at  church,  and,  as  I  sup- 
pose, laying  his  hands  upon  us  in  confirmation  afterward,  perceiving 
that  we  said  our  Catechism  well.  But  as  to  both  of  them,  espe- 
cially the  latter,  I  have  relied  more  on  the  testimony  of  older 
persons  than  on  my  own  certain  remembrance.  At  the  age  of 
nineteen  or  a  few  months  sooner  my  college  course  was  over. 
Through  my  beloved  relative  and  faithful  friend,  Mrs.  Custis  of 
Arlington,  I  heard  of  the  great  worth  of  the  Rev.  Walter  Addison 
of  Maryland  and  determined  to  prepare  for  the  ministry  at  his 
house  and  under  his  direction.  In  him  I  became  acquainted  with 
one  of  the  best  of  men  and  saw  one  of  the  purest  specimens  of 
the  ministerial  character.  Mr.  Addison  was  of  English  parentage, 
and  born  to  large  landed  possessions  on  the  Maryland  side  of  the 


the  morning  service  on  Sundays  when  there  was  no  public  worship,  which  kept 
alive  the  knowledge  of  and  attachment  to  the  Church  in  many  families  which  might 
otherwise  have  been  lost  to  it.  Such  families  were  found  to  be  most  effective  auxi- 
liaries in  its  resuscitation. 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  23 

Potomac  opposite  to  Alexandria.  He  also  inherited  a  number  of 
servants,  whom  he  emancipated.  Through  mismanagement  his 
other  property  wasted  away.  But  the  God  whom  he  served  never 
permitted  him  to  want,  though  he  was  allowed  to  end  his  days  in 
poverty.  It  required  but  little  to  serve  him,  for  he  was  a  man  of 
content  and  self-denial.  At  a  time  when  wine,  whiskey,  rum,  and 
brandy  were  so  commonly  and  freely  drunken  by  all,  especially  by 
many  of  the  clergy  of  Virginia  and  Maryland,  he  made  a  rule 
never  to  drink  more  than  one  small  glass  of  very  weak  toddy  at 
dinner,  but  this  was  equal  to  total  abstinence  now.  Wine  he  had 
none.  He  was  faithful  and  bold  in  reproving  vice  from  the  pulpit 
and  elsewhere,  though  one  of  the  meekest  of  men.  He  told  me 
of  some  mistakes  into  which  he  ran  in  his  earlier  days.  He  was 
probably  one  of  the  first  of  the  Episcopal  clergy  in  the  United 
States  who  denounced  what  are  called  fashionable  amusements. 
Some  years  before  my  acquaintance  with  him  he  published  a  small 
volume  against  balls,  theatres,  gambling,  and  horse-racing,  ad- 
ducing some  high  authorities  from  the  Church  of  England.  His 
opposition  to  duelling  and  the  means  he  adopted  to  prevent  it  made 
him  for  a  number  of  years  very  notorious  among  the  members  of  our 
American  Congress.  Being  pastor  of  the  church  in  Georgetown, 
though  still  living  in  the  country  at  the  time,  he  had  the  opportunity 
of  exerting  himself  in  the  prevention  of  duels  on  several  occasions. 
He  has  often  detailed  to  me  the  circumstances  attending  those 
efforts, — namely,  his  clothing  himself  with  a  civil  office,  in  order  the 
more  effectually  to  arrest  the  duellists  in  their  attempts  to  find  some 
favourable  place  for  the  combat,  his  interview  with  Mr.  Jefferson, 
when  he  had  reason  to  believe  that  one  of  the  parties  was  in  the  Pre- 
sident's house,  his  pursuit  after  them  on  horseback,  his  overtaking 
them  just  as  the  seconds  were  measuring  the  ground,  their  threaten- 
ing to  bind  him  to  a  tree  in  the  Arlington  forest  if  he  did  not  desist 
from  the  pursuit.  These  and  such  like  things  have  I  heard  from 
his  truthful  lips.  At  the  time  of  the  threatened  encounter 
between  Mr.  John  Randolph  and  Mr.  Eppes,  he  was  fully  prepared 
to  prevent  it,  and  if  necessary  deposit  one  or  both  of  them  in  a 
place  of  confinement.  Mr.  Randolph  was  then  an  attendant  at  his 
church  in  Georgetown.  Eleven  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning  was  se- 
lected for  the  combat,  in  order,  as  was  believed,  to  evade  Mr.  Addi- 
son's  vigilance,  as  it  was  supposed  he  would  then  be  at  his  post  of 
duty  in  the  house  of  God.  But  he  believed  that  his  post  of  duty 
on  that  day  was  elsewhere,  and  did  not  hesitate  about  disappointing 
the  congregation.  For  some  time  preceding  the  appointed  hour  he 


24  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,   AND 

was  secreted  near  the  hotel  where  Mr.  Randolph  boarded,  ready  to 
arrest  him  should  he  leave  the  house.  But  an  adjustment  of  the 
difference  took  place  about  that  time.  Mr.  Stanford,  a  worthy 
member  from  North  Carolina,  the  steady  and  judicious  friend  of 
Randolph,  was  doubtless  engaged  in  the  adjustment.  At  any 
rate,  he  knew  what  was  going  on  and  when  the  pacification  was 
effected.  He  knew  also  where  Mr.  Addison  was  and  what  he  was 
prepared  to  do.  He  it  was  who  informed  Mr.  Addison  that  he 
might  go  with  a  quiet  conscience  to  his  Sabbath  duties,  as  the  diffi- 
culty was  settled.  This  I  had  from  the  lips  of  Mr.  Stanford  him- 
self, with  whom  I  had  the  pleasure  to  be  intimately  acquainted  for 
many  years.  Mr.  Addison  was  equally  opposed  to  strife  in  the 
Christian  Church.  Although  he  was  a  true  lover  of  our  own  and 
most  passionately  devoted  to  her  services,  yet  he  was  no  bigot,  but 
embraced  all  Christians  and  Churches  in  the  arms  of  his  wide-ex- 
tended charity.  The  unchurching  doctrine  he  utterly  rejected. 
Just  before  I  lived  with  him  an  Episcopal  paper  was  commenced  in 
the  North  in  which  that  position  was  taken.  He  either  subscribed 
to  it,  or  it  was  sent  to  him;  but,  on  finding  that  it  declared  all 
other  ministries  invalid  and  all  other  churches  out  of  the  covenant, 
he  returned  the  paper  or  declined  to  receive  it  any  longer.  He 
loved  to  see  sinners  converted,  by  whatsoever  instruments  God  might 
employ.  There  was  a  certain  place  in  the  corner  of  his  large 
country  parish  where  neither  he  nor  any  other  Episcopal  minister 
had  been  able  to  make  any  impression.  Some  Methodists  being 
there  and  desiring  to  build  a  church,  he  bid  them  God-speed  and 
furnished  some  pecuniary  or  other  assistance,  hoping  that  they 
might  do  what  he  had  not  been  able  to  do.  Such  was  the  man  of 
God  with  whom  it  was  my  privilege  to  spend  some  happy  and  I 
hope  not  unprofitable  months,  the  period  of  my  stay  being  abridged 
by  a  weakness  in  the  eyes,  which  altogether  prevented  study.  He 
lived  to  a  good  old  age,  loving  all  men  and  beloved  by  all  who 
knew  him.  Many  of  his  last  years  were  spent  in  darkness,  but 
not  of  the  soul.  His  eyes  became  dim,  until  at  length  all  was 
night  to  him.  But  while  only  a  glimmering  of  light  remained,  he 
rejoiced  and  thanked  God  for  it  far  more  than  those  do  who  enjoy 
a  perfect  vision.  And  when  all  was  gone,  he  was  still  the  happiest 
and  most  grateful  of  all  the  happy  and  grateful  ones  whom  I  have 
ever^seen  or  known.  In  my  visits  to  the  district  afterward,  I  ever 
felt  it  to  be  my  sacred  duty,  as  it  was  my  high  happiness,  to  enter 
his  humble  dwelling.  But  this  was  never  done  without  bursts  of 
feelings  and  of  tears  on  both  sides. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  25 

From  this  digression,  which  I  am  sure  the  reader  will  pardon,  I 
return  to  the  more  immediate  object  of  this  article. 

As  I  am  engaged  in  presenting  my  recollections  of  the  state  of 
things  in  the  Church  of  Virginia,  I  think  this  a  proper  time  for 
some  notice  of  the  character  of  the  sermons  which  were  preached 
and  the  books  which  were  read  among  the  Episcopalians  of  Vir- 
ginia. This  was  the  period  when  the  poet  Cowper  upbraided  the 
clergy  of  the  English  Church  with  substituting  morality  for  reli- 
gion, saying,— 

"  How  oft,  when  Paul  has  served  us  with  a  text, 
Has  Plato,  Tully,  Epictetus  preached !" 

In  the  Church  of  Virginia,  with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Jarrett 
and  perhaps  a  few  others,  I  fear  the  preaching  had  for  a  long  time 
been  almost  entirely  of  the  moral  kind.  The  books  most  in  use 
were  Blair's  Sermons,  Sterne's  Works,  The  Spectator,  The  Whole 
Duty  of  Man,  sometimes  Tillotson's  Sermons,  which  last  were  of 
the  highest  grade  of  worth  then  in  use.  But  Blair's  Sermons,  on 
account  of  their  elegant  style  and  great  moderation  in  all  things, 
were  most  popular.  I  remember  that  when  either  of  my  sisters 
would  be  at  all  rude  or  noisy,  my  mother  would  threaten  them  with 
Blair's  Sermon  on  gentleness.  The  sickly  sensibility  of  Sterne's 
Sermons  (and  especially  of  his  Sentimental  Journey)  was  the 
favourite  style  and  standard  of  too  many  of  our  clergy.  After 
entering  the  ministry  I  heard  several  of  such  most  faulty  exhibi- 
tions of  Christian  morality.  It  is  no  wonder  that  the  churches 
were  deserted  and  the  meeting-houses  filled.  But  the  time  had 
come,  both  in  the  English  and  American  Church,  for  a  blessed 
change.  There  is  something  interesting  in  the  history  of  one  of 
the  ways  in  which  it  was  introduced  into  the  Church  of  Virginia. 
The  family  of  Bishop  Porteus  was  Virginian  —  of  Gloucester 
county — opposite  old  Yorktown,  the  residence  of  General  Nelson. 
It  is  not  certain  but  that  Bishop  Porteus  himself  was  born  in  Vir- 
ginia and  carried  over  when  a  child  to  England  with  his  emigrating 
parents.  Porteus  became  a  tutor  in  the  Eton  school,  and  when 
General  Nelson  was  sent  to  England  for  his  education  his  father 
placed  him  under  the  care  of  Mr.  Porteus.  When  Porteus  was 
elevated  to  the  rank  of  a  Bishop  he  did  not  forget  his  former  pupil 
and  family,  but  sent  them  his  first  work,  a  volume  of  sermons, 
which  were  a  great  improvement  on  the  sermons  of  that  day. 
When  Mr.  Wilberforce,  with  whom  he  was  intimate,  published  his 


26  OLD   CSURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

celebrated  evangelical  work,  "Practical  View  of  Christianity," 
this  was  also  sent,  and  afterward  I  believe  the  Bishop's  Lectures 
on  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew,  which  were  an  improvement  on  his 
sermons.  A  beginning  of  more  evangelical  views  of  Christian 
doctrine  was  thus  made  in  one  of  the  best  and  most  influential 
families  of  Virginia.  By  my  intimacy  with  one  branch  of  this 
family,  which  led  to  a  matrimonial  connection  before  my  ordina- 
tion, I  became  acquainted  with  Wilberforce's  "Practical  View  of 
Christianity,"  and  I  believe  Porteus's  Lectures.  These  I  read 
during  the  time  I  spent  with  Mr.  Addison,  and  well  remember  the 
impression  made  upon  me  by  the  same.  I  felt  that,  if  ever  per- 
mitted to  preach,  I  had  only  to  present  the  views  set  forth  in  these 
books,  and  my  hearers  must  be  converted,  though  I  was  soon 
brought  to  the  experience  of  Melancthon,  "That  old  Adam  was 
too  strong  for  young  Melancthon."  These  books  were,  I  believe, 
republished  in  America  about  this  time,  together  with  some  of  the 
writings  of  Miss  Hannah  More,  and  all  contributed  to  elevate  and 
evangelize  the  style  of  preaching  in  our  Church.  Those  who 
undertook  the  resuscitation  of  the  Church  in  Virginia  certainly 
adopted  and  in  their  sermons  exhibited  these  views.  In  this  they 
were  greatly  encouraged  by  the  sermons  of  Mr.  Jarrett,  two  edi- 
tions of  which  had  been  published.* 

*  I  will  be  pardoned,  I  hope,  for  placing  in  a  note  some  facts  in  relation  to  the 
family  of  General  Nelson,  inasmuch  as  they  are  closely  connected  with  the  history 
of  the  Church  in  Virginia.  His  parents  appear  to  have  been  pious  persons.  It  is 
said  that  the  mother  was  particularly  attentive  to  the  religious  training  of  her  chil- 
dren, teaching  them  to  be  punctual  and  conscientious  as  to  their  private  devotions. 
If  she  had  reason  to  fear  that  either  of  her  sons  neglected  his  morning  prayers, 
instead  of  tempting  him  to  untruth  by  asking  if  he  had  attended  to  this  duty,  she 
would  say,  "  My  son,  if  you  have  not  said  your  prayers  this  morning,  you  had  bet- 
ter go  and  do  it,"  The  grace  of  God  has  been  poured  out  on  great  numbers  of  her 
descendants.  General  Nelson  was  blessed  in  a  partner  to  whom,  at  his  early  death, 
he  could  confide  with  safety  his  large  family  of  children.  They  inherited  but  a 
small  portion  of  his  once  large  estate,— that  having  been  nearly  expended  in  the 
service  of  his  country,  and  for  which  no  remuneration  was  ever  received.  But  they 
were  the  adopted  children  of  God,  and  became  active  and  zealous  members  of  the 
Church  in  different  parts  of  the  State,  bringing  up  large  families  in  the  same  way 
in  which  themselves  had  been  trained,  in  the  love  of  the  Gospel  and  the  Church. 
The  widow  of  General  Nelson  lived  to  the  age  of  eighty-seven,  being  blind  during 
the  last  seventeen  years.  Having  been  twice  connected  in  marriage  with  her 
grandchildren,  I  was  led,  during  many  of  her  declining  years,  to  pay  an  annual  visit 
to  her  humble  abode.  On  such  occasions  many  of  her  children  and  descendants, 
who  before  her  death  had  amounted  to  one  hundred  and  fifty,  though  not  all  alive 
at  one  time,  assembled  together  at  her  house,  where  I  always  administered  the 
Holy  Communion.  On  one  of  these  occasions,  I  remember  to  have  counted  in  her 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  27 

I  am  now  brought  to  the  period  of  my  ordination,  which  intro- 
duced me  to  some  things,  in  relation  to  the  Church  of  Virginia, 
not  without  a  painful  interest  to  the  lovers  of  true  religion.  But, 
before  speaking  of  some  circumstances  attendant  on  my  ordination, 
it  may  be  well  to  allude  to  a  correspondence  between  Bishop  Madi- 
son and  myself,  some  months  before  that  event.  It  is  the  more 
proper  so  to  do  as  it  will  serve  to  correct  some  misunderstandings 
which  have  gone  abroad  with  respect  to  us  both,  and  which  have 
had  a  bearing  on  the  reputation  of  the  Virginia  Churchmanship  of 
that  day.  Passing  through  Philadelphia  a  year  or  more  before  my 
ordination,  and  staying  at  the  house  of  an  Episcopal  clergyman,  I 
heard  some  severe  strictures  on  one  or  more  of  the  ministers  of  our 
Church,  in  some  other  diocese  or  dioceses,  for  violating  the  rubrics 
of  the  Prayer  Book  by  abridging  the  service.  It  was  designated 
by  no  slighter  term  than  perjury,  in  the  violation  of  solemn  ordi- 
nation vows.  I  learned  afterward  that  such  charges  were  made 
elsewhere.  In  examining  the  Canons  of  the  Church  I  also  found 
one  which  seemed  positively  to  forbid,  under  any  circumstances,  the 
admission  into  an  Episcopal  pulpit  of  any  minister  not  Episcopally 
ordained.  I  was  aware  that  it  was  impossible  to  use  the  whole 
service  in  very  many  of  the  places  where  I  might  be  called  to  offi- 
ciate, and  well  knew  that  ministers  of  other  denominations  preached 
in  many  of  our  old  Episcopal  churches,  and,  indeed,  that  it  was 
questioned  whether  under  the  law  our  ministers  had  the  exclusive 
right  to  them.  I  also  saw  that  there  was  a  canon  forbidding  ser- 
vile labour  to  the  clergy,  while  from  necessity — for  the  support  of  a 
young  family — I  was  then  taking  part  in  the  labours  of  the  field, 
which  in  Virginia  was  emphatically  servile  labour.  "Wishing  to 
enter  the  ministry  with  a  good  conscience  and  correct  understand- 
ing of  my  ordination  vows,  I  wrote  a  letter  of  inquiry  to  Bishop 
Madison  on  these  several  points.  To  this  I  received  a  very  sensible 
reply,  nearly  all  of  which,  I  think,  the  House  of  Bishops  and  the 
Church  generally  would  now  indorse,  though  there  would  have 
been  some  demurring  in  former  times.  On  the  occasion  of  my 
consecration  to  the  office  of  Bishop  it  was  objected  by  some  that 
Bishop  Madison  had  ordained  me  with  a  dispensation  from  canoni- 
cal obedience.  Having  his  letter  with  me, — which  the  reader  may 


room  and  in  the  passage  leading  to  it  forty-three  recipients  of  that  rite,  nearly  all 
of  whom  were  her  descendents, — children,  grandchildren,  and  great-grandchildren. 
Four  of  her  descendants  are  now  ministering  in  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  one  who 
4id  minister  in  it  has  gone  to  his  rest. 


28  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

see  in  the  note, — the  objection  was  not  urged.*  In  the  month  of 
February,  1811,  I  proceeded  on  horseback  to  Williamsburg,  about 
two  hundred  miles,  and  on  Sunday,  the  24th, — a  clear,  cold  morn- 
ing,— was  ordained.  My  examination  took  place  at  the  Bishop's, 
before  breakfast, — Dr.  Bracken  and  himself  conducting  it.  It  was 
very  brief.  It  has  been  asserted  that  Bishop  Madison  became  an 
unbeliever  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  and  I  have  often  been 


*  DEAR  SIR: — I  received  your  letter  by  Mr.  Bracken,  and  approve  of  your  con- 
scientious inquiries  respecting  certain  obligations  imposed  by  the  Canons.  You 
know  that  every  society  must  have  general  rules,  as  the  guides  of  conduct  for  its 
members  ;  but  I  believe  the  Episcopal  Church  is  as  liberal  in  that  respect  as  any 
other  religious  society  whatever.  The  subscription  required  of  the  candidate  is, 
that  he  will  conform  to  the  discipline  and  worship  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  the  United  States.  At  the  time  of  ordination  he  promises  to  conform  to 
the  Canons.  With  respect  to  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  an  adherence  is  re- 
quired, wherever  the  situation  of  the  Chui-ch  will  permit :  it  happens,  however,  too 
often  that  the  minister  must  be  left  to  his  own  discretion,  particularly  on  occasions 
when  it  may  be  necessary  to  abridge  the  service,  or  when  there  may  be  no  Clerk, 
&c.  No  oath  is  administered  or  required,  and  that  adherence  to  the  book  only  is 
expected  which  may  tend  to  further  religion  and  good  order  in  a  religious  society; 
for  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  superiority  of  forms  of  prayer  for  public  worship. 
Before  sermon  many  ministers,  I  believe,  prefer  a  prayer  of  their  own,  and  if  it  be 
well  conceived  I  suppose  no  objection  would  be  made.  His  private  prayer,  may  cer- 
tainly be  determined  by  himself.  With  respect  to  the  use  of  our  Church  by  other 
Societies,  the  general  rule  is  often  dispensed  with,  especially  if  the  party  wishing 
the  use  will  assist  in  the  preservation  of  the  building,  or  the  preacher  be  of 
known  respectable  character.  Too  often,  indeed,  our  churches  are  now  used  en- 
tirely by  other  sects.  The  Canon  could  never  intend  that  a  minister  should  be  pre- 
vented from  following  any  occupation  which  was  creditable.  Hence  the  practice 
of  physic,  &c.  is  not  deemed  inconsistent  with  the  ministerial  profession,  nor,  I 
conceive,  any  other  business  which  is  free  from  a  kind  of  public  odium.  It  would 
be  unfit  for  a  minister  to  keep  a  tavern  or  grogshop,  &c.,  but  certainly  not  to 
follow  any  occupation  where  good  may  result  both  to  the  community  and  to  the 
individual.  The  honest  discharge  of  clerical  duties,  with  a  life  preaching  by  ex- 
ample, are,  in  reality,  the  principal  requisites :  when  these  are  manifested,  and  the 
piety  and  good  behaviour  of  the  minister  cannot  be  questioned,  he  need  not  appre- 
hend the  rigour  of  Canons,  or  any  other  spiritual  authority. 

I  am,  sir,  yours  very  respectfully, 
October  10,  1810.  J.  MADISON. 

REMARKS. — Some  years  after  my  entrance  on  the  ministry,  I  was  conversing  on 
the  subject  of  dispensing  with  the  regular  service  in  preaching  to  the  servants  in 
their  quarters,  with  one  of  our  most  eminent  ministers,  when  he  maintained,  and  I 
doubt  not  most  conscientiously,  that  I  had  no  right  to  open  my  lips  in  preaching  to 
them,  without  first  using  the  service  according  to  the  rubric.  A  very  great  change 
has  recently  come  over  the  minds  of  many  of  our  clergy  on  this  subject,  judging 
from  some  things  seen  in  our  religious  papers,  in  which  more  latitudinarian  views 
are  taken  than  I  ever  remember  to  have  heard  of  formerly. 


FAMILIES  OF   VIRGINIA.  29 

asked  if  it  was  not  so.  I  am  confident  that  the  imputation  is 
unjust.  His  political  principles,  which  at  that  day  were  so  iden- 
tified in  the  minds  of  many  with  those  of  infidel  France,  may 
have  subjected  him  to  such  suspicion.  His  secular  studies,  and 
occupations  as  President  of  the  College  and  Professor  of  Natural 
Philosophy,  may  have  led  him  to  philosophize  too  much  on  the 
subject  of  religion,  and  of  this  I  thought  I  saw  some  evidence  in 
the  course  of  my  examination ;  but  that  he,  either  secretly,  or  to 
his  most  intimate  friends,  renounced  the  Christian  faith,  I  do  not 
believe,  but  am  confident  of  the  contrary.  To  proceed  with  the 
ordination.  On  our  way  to  the  old  church  the  Bishop  and  myself 
met  a  number  of  students  with  guns  on  their  shoulders  and  dogs  at 
their  sides,  attracted  by  the  frosty  morning,  which  was  favourable 
to  the  chase ;  and  at  the  same  time  one  of  the  citizens  was  filling 
his  ice-house.  On  arriving  at  the  church  we  found  it  in  a  wretched 
condition,  with  broken  windows  and  a  gloomy,  comfortless  aspect. 
The  congregation  which  assembled  consisted  of  two  ladies  and 
abolit  fifteen  gentlemen,  nearly  all  of  whom  were  relatives  or  ac- 
quaintances. The  morning  service  being  over,  the  ordination  and 
communion  were  administered,  and  then  I  was  put  into  the  pulpit 
to  preach,  there  being  no  ordination  sermon.  The  religious  con- 
dition of  the  College  and  of  the  place  may  easily  and  justly  be 
inferred  from  the  above.  I  was  informed  that  not  long  before  this 
two  questions  were  discussed  in  a  literary  society  of  the  College : — 
First,  Whether  there  be  a  God  ?  Secondly,  Whether  the  Christian 
religion  had  been  injurious  or  beneficial  to  mankind  ?  Infidelity, 
indeed,  was  then  rife  in  the  State,  and  the  College  of  William  and 
Mary  was  regarded  as  the  hotbed  of  French  politics  and  religion. 
I  can  truly  say,  that  then,  and  for  some  years  after,  in  every  edu- 
cated young  man  of  Virginia  whom  I  met,  I  expected  to  find  a 
skeptic,  if  not  an  avowed  unbeliever.  I  left  Williamsburg,  as  may 
well  be  imagined,  with  sad  feelings  of  discouragement.  My  next 
Sabbath  was  spent  in  Richmond,  where  the  condition  of  things 
was  little  better.  Although  there  was  a  church  in  the  older  part 
of  the  town,  it  was  never  used  but  on  communion-days.  The  place 
of  worship  was  an  apartment  in  the  Capitol,  which  held  a  few  hun- 
dred persons  at  most,  and  as  the  Presbyterians  had  no  church  at 
all  in  Richmond  at  that  time,  the  use  of  the  room  was  divided 
between  them  and  the  Episcopalians,  each  having  service  every 
other  Sabbath  morning,  and  no  oftener.  Even  two  years  after 
this,  being  in  Richmond  on  a  communion-Sunday,  I  assisted  the 
Rector,  Dr.  Buchanan,  in  the  old  church,  when  only  two  gentle- 


30  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,    AND 

men  and  a  few  ladies  communed.  One  of  these  gentlemen,  the 
elder  son  of  Judge  Marshall,  was  a  resident  in  the  upper  country. 
One  of  the  old  clergy  who  was  present  did  approach  to  the  chan- 
cel with  a  view  of  partaking ;  but  his  habits  were  so  bad  and  so 
notorious,  that  he  was  motioned  by  the  Rector  not  to  come.  In- 
deed, it  was  believed  that  he  was  not  in  a  sober  state  at  the  time. 

Before  proceeding  further  in  the  narrative  of  such  circumstances 
as  may  tend  to  throw  light  on  the  condition  of  the  Church  in  Vir- 
ginia, I  will,  at  the  risk  of  being  charged  with  even  more  of  ego- 
tism than  has  already  been  displayed,  make  a  few  remarks,  which, 
I  think,  are  necessary  to  a  right  understanding  of  the  whole  subject 
I  have  taken  in  hand.  So  low  and  hopeless  was  the  state  of  the 
Church  at  this  time — the  time  of  my  ordination — but  a  few  of  the 
old  clergy  even  attempting  to  carry  on  the  work — only  one  person 
for  a  long  time  having  been  ordained  by  Bishop  Madison,  and  he 
from  a  distance,  and  a  most  unworthy  one — it  created  surprise,  and 
was  a  matter  of  much  conversation,  when  it  was  understood  that  a 
young  Virginian  had  entered  the  ministry  of  the  Episcopal  Church. 
Even  some  years  after  this,  when  I  applied  to  Judge  Marshall  for 
a  subscription  to  our  Theological  Seminary,  though  he  gave  with 
his  accustomed  liberality,  he  could  not  refrain  from  saying,  that  it 
was  a  hopeless  undertaking,  and  that  it  was  almost  unkind  to  induce 
young  Virginians  to  enter  the  Episcopal  ministry,  the  Church  being 
too  far  gone  ever  to  be  revived.  Such  was  the  general  impression 
among  friends  and  foes.  I  had,  however,  throughout  the  State 
many  most  respectable  and  influential  relatives,  some  still  rich, 
others  of  fallen  fortunes,  both  on  my  father's  and  mother's  side,* 
who  were  still  attached  to  the  Church.  My  parents,  too,  were 
very  popular  persons,  and  had  many  friends  and  acquaintances 
throughout  Virginia,  who  still  lingered  around  the  old  Church. 
These  things  caused  my  ordination  to  excite  a  greater  interest,  and 
created  a  partiality  in  behalf  of  my  future  ministry.  But  still 
there  were  many  who  thought  it  so  strange  a  proceeding,  that  they 
were  ready  to  accept,  as  a  probable  mode  of  accounting  for  it,  an 


*  My  great-grandfather  on  the  paternal  side  was  an  Irish  Romanist.  Emigrating 
to  this  country,  he  married  a  Quakeress,  in  Flushing,  New  York,  and  settled  in  Suf- 
folk, Virginia.  From  this  alliance  sprang  a  large  family  of  Protestant  Episcopa- 
lians. Through  my  grandmother  an  infusion  of  Anglican  Protestantism  entered 
the  family,  as  she  descended  from  Richard  Kidder,  Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells,  after 
whom  my  father  and  many  others  of  the  family  have  been  called.  With  scarce  an 
exception,  their  descendants  have  all  adhered  to  the  Episcopal  Church. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  31 

opinion  expressed  by  one  or  more  and  soon  put  in  circulation,  that 
there  was  something  unsound  in  mind  or  eccentric  in  character,  at 
any  rate  a  want  of  good  common  sense,  or  I  could  not  make  such 
a  mistake  as  to  attach  myself  to  the  fallen  and  desperate  fortunes 
of  the  old  Church.  Some  strange  speeches  of  this  kind  were  made. 
Nor  were  they  or  their  effects  confined  to  Virginia,  or  to  that  time. 
E  am  not  sure  that  their  influence  has  ceased  to  the  present  day. 
One  good,  however,  resulted  from  them,  namely,  that  certain  views 
of  religion  and  certain  modes  of  life  adopted  by  me  and  contrary 
to  what  were  supposed  to  be  the  doctrines  of  the  Episcopal  Church 
— certainly,  contrary  to  the  sentiments  and  practice  of  the  people 
— were  ascribed  to  this  natural  defect  and  kindly  dealt  with,  instead 
of  awakening  hostility  which,  under  other  circumstances,  might 
have  been  exhibited.  Certain  it  is  that  my  ministry,  from  the  first, 
was  received  with  a  favour  which  neither  my  imperfect  theological 
education  nor  my  most  unfinished  sermons  nor  any  thing  else 
about  me  were  entitled  to.  Under  such  favour,  I  commenced  my 
ministry  in  the  spring  of  1811,  in  Frederick  county,  as  assistant 
to  Mr.  Balmaine,  in  the  two  congregations  belonging  to  his  charge, 
while  living  and  labouring  on  a  small  farm,  and  having  no  design  or 
wish  to  go  elsewhere.  But  in  the  fall  of  that  year  I  consented  to 
the  very  urgent  solicitations  of  the  vestry  of  old  Christ  Church, 
Alexandria,  to  take  charge  of  it,  with  the  privilege  of  spending  a 
portion  of  the  year  in  Frederick  and  not  entirely  relinquishing  my 
engagements  there.  Very  peculiar  were  the  circumstances  of  that 
congregation,  and  very  strong  the  appeal,  or  I  should  not  have 
been  moved  to  undertake  even  the  partial  and  temporary  charge  of 
it.  Its  last  minister  was  from  the  West  Indies,  and  after  having 
married  in  Alexandria  was  found  to  have  left  a  wife  behind  him. 
On  her  pursuing  and  reaching  him  he  fled,  and  I  believe  was  heard 
of  no  more.  His  predecessor  was  of  an  unhappy  temper  and  too 
much  given  to  the  intoxicating  cup.  His  predecessor  again  was 
one  of  the  old-fashioned  kind  in  his  preaching  and  habits,  being 
fond  of  what  was  called  good  company  and  the  pleasures  of  the 
table.  In  order  to  insure  full  and  frequent  meetings  of  the  vestry- 
men— twelve  in  number  and,  for  the  most  part,  good  livers — he  got 
them  to  meet  once  per  month  at  each  others'  houses  to  dinner. 
These  meetings  continued  until  after  I  took  charge  of  the  congre- 
gation. I  was  present  at  one  of  them.  The  old  minister  who  had 
established  them  was  also  there,  being  on  a  visit.  He  then  lived 
in  a  distant  parish.  It  was  not  difficult  to  perceive  why  such 
vestry-meetings  were  popular  with  certain  ministers  and  vestry- 


32  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

men.  I  attended  no  more  of  them,  and  they  were  soon  relin- 
quished. That  a  congregation  having  had  three  such  ministers  in 
succession  should  be  desirous  to  try  a  young  Virginian  was  not 
very  wonderful.  I  should  be  guilty,  however,  if  I  did  not  pursue 
the  history  of  the  ministers  of  Christ  Church  further  back.  The 
next  in  order  of  time  past  was  the  good  Dr.  Griffith,  of  whom  I 
have  already  spoken,  as  the  first  Bishop-elect  of  Virginia,  but  who 
was  prevented  by  poverty  from  going  to  England  for  consecration. 
His  predecessor  was  Lord  Bryan  Fairfax,  of  whom  I  have  some- 
thing to  say  in  another  place.  He  was  a  pure  and  conscientious 
man,  the  friend  and  neighbour  of  General  Washington,  and  a  true 
Englishman.  He  attempted,  in  a  series  of  private  letters,  which 
one  of  his  children  showed  me  and  which  have  since  been  pub- 
lished, to  dissuade  Washington  from  engaging  in  or  pursuing  the 
war.  General  Washington  dealt  very  tenderly  with  him  in  his 
replies,  knowing  how  conscientious  he  was,  and  being  much  at- 
tached to  him  and  the  elder  Lord  Fairfax  with  whom  he  had  lived. 
There  was  associated  with  Mr.  Fairfax  the  Rev.  Mr.  Page,  who 
afterward  moved  to  Shepherdstown,  and  of  whom  I  have  heard 
that  venerable  old  lady,  Mrs.  Shepherd,  speak  in  the  highest  terms 
as  an  evangelical  man  of  the  school  of  Whitefield. 

A  few  remarks  on  my  ministry  during  the  two  years  of  its 
exercise  in  Alexandria  may  serve  to  cast  some  light  on  the  pro- 
gress of  the  Church  in  Virginia  from  that  time.  1st.  The  old 
Virginia  custom  of  private  baptisms,  christening-cake,  and  merri- 
ment, had  prevailed  in  Alexandria.  The  ground,  however,  was 
now  taken  that  the  rubric  was  entirely  opposed  to  this  and  that 
the  whole  meaning  and  design  of  the  sacred  rite  forbade  it  and 
that  it  could  not  be  continued.  There  were  demurrings  and  refu- 
sals for  a  time,  but  a  little  decision  with  kind  persuasion  completely 
triumphed,  as  they  did  afterward  at  a  later  period  both  in  Norfolk 
and  Petersburg,  where  private  baptisms  were  made  to  give  place  to 
public  ones,  when  I  had  the  temporary  charge  of  these  two  con- 
gregations, peculiar  circumstances  inducing  me  to  undertake  it. 
2dly.  The  Gospel,  it  is  to  be  feared,  had  not  been  clearly  preached 
in  times  past.  It  was  now  attempted;  and,  though  most  imper- 
fectly done  as  to  style  and  manner,  God's  blessing  was  granted. 
The  services  were  well  attended.  Many  were  added  to  the  Church 
of  such  as  gave  good  proof  afterward  that  they  would  be  of  those 
who  should  be  saved.  A  goodly  number  of  the  members  of  Con- 
gress often  came  down  on  Sunday  morning  to  attend  the  church, 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  33 

among  whom  were  Mr.  John  Randolph*  and  Dr.  Milnor,  with 
both  of  whom  I  became  then  and  thus  acquainted.  In  the  mind 
of  the  latter  there  was  at  that  time  going  on  the  great  change 


*  It  being  known  that  there  was  a  family  connection  and  some  intimacy  and  cor- 
respondence between  Mr.  Randolph  and  myself,  I  have  been  often  asked  my  opinion 
as  to  his  religious  character.  It  is  as  difficult  to  answer  this  as  to  explain  some 
other  things  about  this  most  talented,  eccentric,  and  unhappy  man.  My  acquaint- 
ance and  correspondence  with  him  commenced  in  1813  and  terminated  in  1818, 
although  at  his  death  he  confided  a  most  difficult  and  important  trust  to  myself,  in 
conjunction  with  our  common  and  most  valued  friend,  Mr.  Francis  S.  Key.  I  pub- 
lish the  following  letter  written  in  1815,  when  his  mind  seemed  to  be  in  a  state  of 
anxiety  on  the  subject  of  religion,  and  an  extract  from  another  paper  in  my 
possession,  showing  a  supposed  relief  in  the  year  1818.  Other  letters  I  have, 
during  the  period  of  our  intimacy,  of  the  same  character.  The  reader  must  judge 
for  himself,  taking  into  consideration  the  great  inconsistencies  of  his  subsequent 
life,  and  making  all  allowances  for  his  most  peculiar  and  unhappy  temperament,  his 
most  diseased  body,  and  the  trying  circumstances  of  his  life  and  death. 

"RICHMOND,  May  19,  1815. 

"  It  is  with  very  great  regret  that  I  leave  town  about  the  time  that  you  are  con- 
fidently expected  to  arrive.  Nothing  short  of  necessity  should  carry  me  away  at 
this  time.  I  have  a  very  great  desire  to  see  you,  to  converse  with  you  on  the  sub- 
ject before  which  all  others  sink  into  insignificance.  It  continues  daily  to  occupy 
more  and  more  of  my  attention,  which  it  has  nearly  engrossed  to  the  exclusion  of 
every  other,  and  it  is  a  source  of  pain  as  well  as  of  occasional  comfort  to  me.  May 
He  who  alone  can  do  it  shed  light  upon  my  mind,  and  conduct  me,  through  faith, 
to  salvation.  Give  me  your  prayers.  I  have  the  most  earnest  desire  for  a  more 
perfect  faith  than  I  fear  I  possess.  What  shall  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  I  know  the 
answer,  but  it  is  not  free  from  difficulty.  Lord,  be  merciful  to  me,  a  sinner.  I  do 
submit  myself  most  implicitly  to  his  holy  will,  and  great  is  my  reliance  on  his 
mercy.  But  when  I  reflect  on  the  corruptions  of  my  nature  I  tremble  whilst  I 
adore.  The  merits  of  an  all-atoning  Saviour  I  hardly  dare  to  plead  when  I  think 
of  my  weak  faith.  Help,  Lord,  or  I  perish,  but  thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is 
in  heaven.  I  know  that  I  deserve  to  suffer  for  my  sins  ;  for  time  misspent,  faculties 
misemployed ;  but,  above  all,  that  I  have  not  loved  God  and  my  neighbour  as  we 
are  commanded  to  do.  But  I  will  try  to  confide  in  the  promises  we  have  received, 
or  rather  to  comply  with  their  conditions.  Whatever  be  my  fate,  I  will  not  har- 
bour a  murmur  in  my  breast  against  the  justice  of  my  Creator.  Your  afflicted 
friend, 

"JOHN  RANDOLPH,  OF  ROANOKE. 

"Rev.  WILLIAM  MEADE." 

August,  1818.  "It  is  now  just  nineteen  years  since  sin  first  began  to  sit  heavy 
upon  my  soul.  For  a  very  great  part  of  that  time  I  have  been  as  a  conscious 
thief ;  hiding  or  trying  to  hide  from  my  fellow-sinners,  from  myself,  from  my  God. 
After  much  true  repentance,  followed  by  relapses  into  deadly  sin,  it  hath  pleased 
Almighty  God  to  draw  me  to  him;  reconciling  me  to  him,  and,  by  the  love  which 
driveth  out  fear,  to  show  me  the  mighty  scheme  of  his  salvation,  which  hath  been 
to  me,  as  also  to  the  Jews,  a  stumbling-block,  and,  as  to  the  Greeks,  foolishness. 
I  am  now,  for  the  first  time,  grateful  and  happy ;  nor  would  I  exchange  my  present 
feelings  and  assurances,  although  in  rags,  for  any  throne  in  Christendom." 

3 


31  OLD   CHUKCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

whose  abundant  fruits  have  so  blessed  mankind.  3d.  It  was  during 
my  stay  in  Alexandria  that  I  procured  from  the  library  of  Mr. 
Custis,  of  Arlington,  the  folio  edition  of  Bishop  Wilson's  works, 
which  had  been  presented  to  General  Washington  by  the  son  of 
Bishop  Wilson,  and  which  works  had  been  recommended  to  me  by 
Bishop  Madison.  By  the  help  of  Mr.  Edward  McGuire,  who,  for 
more  than  forty-two  years,  has  been  the  faithful  and  successful 
minister  of  the  Church  in  Fredericksburg,  and  who  was  then  pre- 
paring for  the  ministry  with  me,  I  selected  from  the  various  parts 
of  that  large  book,  a  small  volume  of  private  and  family  prayers, 
which  have  gone  through  three  editions,  and  which,  being  freely 
circulated  among  the  families  of  Virginia,  contributed  greatly  to 
introduce  what  was  indeed  a  novelty  in  that  day — the  practice  of 
family  worship.*  It  was  during  my  short  stay  in  Alexandria  that 
the  Rev.  William  Wilmer  assumed  the  charge  of  St.  Paul's  congre- 
gation, and  at  the  close  of  my  ministry  there  that  the  Kev.  Oliver 
Norris  took  charge  of  Christ  Church.  These  beloved  brothers, 
coming  from  Maryland  with  those  views  of  the  Gospel  and  the 
Church  which  the  evangelical  clergy  and  laity  of  England  were 
then  so  zealously  and  successfully  propagating  there,  contributed 
most  effectually  to  the  promotion  of  the  same  in  Virginia,  and  to 
them  is  justly  due  much  of  the  subsequent  character  and  success  of 
the  Church  in  Virginia,  as  is  well  known  to  all  of  their  day.  I 
cannot  take  leave  of  Alexandria  without  referring  to  my  admission 
to  priests'  orders,  which  took  place  there  a  year  or  two  after  this, 
and  which  were  conferred  on  me  by  Bishop  Clagget,  of  Maryland, 
our  faithful  brother  the  Rev.  Simon  Wilmer  preaching  on  the 
occasion.  Bishop  Clagget,  so  far  as  I  know  and  believe,  enter- 
tained sound  views  of  the  Gospel  and  was  a  truly  pious  man. 


*  Many  of  the  sentences  or  petitions,  making  up  these  family  devotions,  are  taken 
from  short  prayers  found  either  before  or  after  the  printed  sermons  of  Bishop  Wil- 
son, and  no  doubt  were  used  by  him  in  the  pulpit.  They  were  evidently  adapted 
to  sermons.  Such  we  know  to  have  been  the  case  with  many  if  not  all  of  the 
English  clergy,  for  a  long  time.  Specimens  of  the  same  may  be  seen  in  connection 
with  a  few  of  the  homilies.  Such  is  the  practice  of  some  of  the  English  clergy  to 
this  day,  as  I  know  from  having  heard  them  while  on  a  visit  to  England  a  few  years 
since.  It  is  well  known  that  Bishop  White  did  at  one  time,  after  the  example  of 
English  Bishops  and  clergy,  prepare  and  use  such  prayers  after  his  sermons.  Some 
of  the  Virginia  clergy  have  done  the  same  occasionally,  and  for  it  they  have  been 
denounced  as  transgressors  of  the  law,  and  no  Churchmen.  I  sincerely  wish  that 
so  good  a  practice  were  generally  adopted  and  that  ministers  would  carefully 
prepare,  either  in  writing  or  otherwise,  a  prayer  suitable  to  the  sermon.  The  col- 
lects might  sometimes  be  found  admirably  adapted,  but  not  always. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  35 

There  was  much  of  the  Englishman  about  him,  I  presume,  from 
his  wearing  the  mitre,  and  his  mode  of  examining  me,  that  con- 
forming so  much  to  the  character  of  the  English  University  exa- 
minations.* Beside  a  number  of  hard  questions  in  the  metaphysics 
of  divinity,  which  I  was  by  no  means  well  prepared  to  answer,  but 
which  he  kindly  answered  for  me,  he  requested  that  I  would,  in 
compliance  with  an  old  English  canon,  which  had  been,  I  think, 
incorporated  somewhere  into  our  requisitions,  give  him  an  account 
of  my  faith  in  the  Latin  tongue.  Although  I  was  pretty  well 
versed  in  the  Latin  language,  yet,  being  unused  to  speak  it,  I 
begged  him  to  excuse  me.  He  then  said  I  could  take  pen  and 
paper  and  write  it  down  in  his  presence ;  but  he  was  kind  enough 
to  excuse  from  that  also,  and  determined  to  ordain  me  with  all  my 
deficiencies,  very  much  as  some  other  bishops  do  in  this  day. 


*  A  singular  circumstance  occurred  about  this  time  in  connection  with  Bishop 
Clagget's  consecration  of  old  St.  Paul's  Church,  Alexandria.  Putting  on  his  robes 
and  his  mitre  at  some  distance  from  the  Church,  he  had  to  go  along  the  street  to 
reach  it.  This  attracted  the  attention  of  a  number  of  boys  and  others,  who  ran 
after  and  alongside  of  him,  admiring  his  peculiar  dress  and  gigantic  stature.  His 
voice  was  as  extraordinary  for  strength  and  ungoyernableness  as  was  his  stature 
for  size,  and  as  he  entered  the  door  of  the  church  where  the  people  were  in  silence 
awaiting,  and  the  first  words  of  the  service  burst  forth  from  his  lips  in  his  most 
peculiar  manner,  a  young  lady,  turning  around  suddenly  and  seeing  his  huge  form 
and  uncommon  appearance,  was  so  convulsed  that  she  was  obliged  to  be  taken  out 
of  the  house. 


36  OLD    CflURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 


ARTICLE  II. 

Recollections  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  Virginia, 
during  the  Present  Century. 

ON  leaving  Alexandria  I  returned  to  my  little  farm  in  Frederick 
and  to  the  tending,  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  Balmaine,  of  the  two 
small  flocks  at  the  chapel  and  in  Winchester.  During  all  the  time 
of  that  joint  rectorship  I  bestowed  a  considerable  portion  of  my 
labours  on  five  or  six  counties  around,  which  were  either  destitute 
of  ministers  or  very  partially  served.  The  continual  presence  of 
Mr.  Balmaine  in  Winchester,  and  the  lay-reading  of  my  excellent 
father-in-law,  Mr.  Philip  Nelson,  at  the  chapel,  enabled  me  to  do 
this.  In  my  absence  from  the  chapel,  the  excellent  sermons  of 
Gisborne  and  Bradley  and  Jarrett  were  delivered  by  one  of  the 
best  of  readers,  from  its  pulpit.  I  wras  happy  to  be  able,  during 
my  visit  to  England  some  years  since,  to  communicate  to  the  two 
former  the  fact  that  they  had  thus,  without  knowing  it,  preached 
so  often  and  so  acceptably  in  my  pulpit  in  America.  Such  was 
the  scarcity  of  ministers  and  churches  around,  that  my  chapel  ser- 
vices were  attended  by  families  living  at  the  distance  of  twelve  and 
fifteen  miles.  There  are  now  seven  churches,  with  regular  services 
by  six  ministers,  within  that  district  to  which  I  was  a  debtor  for  all 
pulpit  and  parochial  ministration.  My  connection  with  Mr.  Bal- 
maine was  most  pleasant  and  harmonious.  He  was  one  of  the  most 
simple  and  single-hearted  of  men.  Himself  and  his  excellent  part- 
ner were  the  friends  of  the  poor,  and  indeed  of  all,  and  were  be- 
loved by  all  who  knew  them.  They  had  no  children,  and  having 
some  property,  as  well  as  a  few  hundred  dollars  rent  for  the  glebe, 
might  have  lived  in  a  little  style  and  self-indulgence,  but  they  were 
economical  and  self-denying  in  all  things,  that  they  might  have 
something  for  the  poor  and  for  the  promotion  of  pious  objects. 
They  did  not  even  keep  fire  in  their  chamber  during  the  coldest 
weather  of  winter.  They  had  one  family  of  servants,  who  were 
to  them  as  children.  As  children  they  inherited,  and  some  still 
live  in,  the  old  mansion.  As  to  some  things  Dr.  Balmaine  had 
been  weak,  and  at  times  led  astray  by  those  who  surrounded  him. 
But  I  can  truly  say,  that  for  many  of  the  last  years  of  his  life,  a 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  37 

more  warm-hearted  and  exemplary  man  I  knew  not.  Some  of  the 
most  eloquent  extempore  effusions  I  ever  heard  were  from  his  lips, 
while  standing  in  the  chancel  on  sacramental  occasions,  when  he 
referred  with  tears  to  past  errors  and  sought  to  make  amends,  by 
thus  testifying  to  evangelical  doctrine  and  holy  living.  In  the 
spring  of  1812,  Bishop  Madison  died.  And  as  Dr.  Buchannon,  of 
Richmond,  was  the  Secretary  to  the  last  Convention,  which  was 
held. seven  years  before,  Dr.  Wilmer  and  myself  united  in  a  re- 
quest that  he  would  call  a  special  one  in  May.  At  that  Convention 
fourteen  clergymen  and  fourteen  laymen  assembled.  It  resulted 
in  the  election  of  Dr.  Bracken  as  successor  to  Bishop  Madison ; 
not,  however,  without  opposition  by  some  among  us.*  Another 
Convention  was  held  in  the  following  spring,  at  which  only  seven 
clergymen  attended.  To  that  Convention  Dr.  Bracken  sent  in  his 
resignation.  Our  deliberations  were  conducted  in  one  of  the  com- 
mittee-rooms of  the  Capitol,  sitting  around  a  table.  There  was 
nothing  to  encourage  us  to  meet  again,  and  but  for  that  which  I 
shall  soon  mention,  I  believe  such  profitless  and  discouraging  efforts 
would  soon  have  ceased.  I  well  remember,  that  having  just  read 


*  A  circumstance  occurred  at  this  Convention  worthy  of  being  mentioned,  as 
showing  the  effrontery  of  an  unworthy  clergyman,  even  at  that  day.  One  such, 
from  New  York,  came  to  Virginia  a  few  years  before  this,  and  excited  considerable 
attention  by  his  eloquence  in  Eichmond,  Norfolk,  and  elsewhere.  He  soon  settled 
himself  in  the  vacant  church  at  Fredericksburg,  and  collected  crowds  by  his  pulpit- 
powers.  After  a  while  rumours  came  that  he  had  left  his  first  and  true  wife  in  New 
York,  and  that  the  one  with  him  was  unlawfully  married  to  him.  This  he  solemnly 
denied  in  the  pulpit,  and  in  a  letter  to  the  vestry.  The  thing  being  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent proved  upon  him  during  the  week,  he  was  obliged  to  admit  it  as  publicly  the 
following  Sabbath  and  in  a  letter  to  the  vestry.  He  shortly  after  left  Fredericks- 
burg,  (which  was  soon  supplied  with  another  from  the  same  State,  who  also  turned 
out  badly,)  and  went  to  one  of  the  lower  counties  of  Virginia,  where  he  was  too 
well  received  and  preferred  to  the  incumbent  who  had  the  glebe,  but  was  an  intem- 
perate man.  He  was  encouraged  to  go  to  the  Convention,  and  see  if  there  was  no 
method  by  which  the  incumbent  might  be  ejected  and  himself  be  substituted.  On 
coming  to  Richmond,  an  interview  took  place  between  himself  and  one  of  the  clergy, 
in  which  he  was  told  that  if  possible  he  himself  would  be  brought  before  the  Con- 
vention, for  his  violation  of  the  laws  of  God  and  man.  Enraged  by  this,  he  raised 
his  stick,  and,  shaking  it  over  the  head  of  the  clergyman,  bid  him  beware  how  he 
proceeded.  He  afterward,  however,  sought  another  interview  with  the  same  cler- 
gyman, to  whom,  in  the  presence  of  a  third,  he  acknowledged  his  transgression. 
He  was  told  that  he  ought,  at  any  rate,  to  abandon  the  ministry.  He  disappeared 
that  night,  and  soon  after  died.  He  had  by  his  first  wife  a  son  of  considerable 
talents  who  was  attached  to  the  stage.  By  the  grace  of  God  he  was  .led  to  exchange 
the  stage  for  the  pulpit,  and,  in  the  providence  of  Ood,  was  led  to  prepare  for  the 
ministry  in  my  house,  and  became  an  acceptable  and  useful  minister  in  the  large 
congregation  at  Norfolk. 


38  OLD    CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,   AND 

Scott's  "Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,"  as  I  took  my  solitary  way 
homeward  on  horseback,  I  found  myself  continually  saying,  in 
relation  to  the  Church  of  Virginia,  in  the  words  of  the  elvish 
page,  "Lost — lost — lost;1'  and  never  expected  to  cross  the  moun- 
tains again  on  such  an  errand.  But  in  the  course  of  that  year,  or 
in  the  early  part  of  the  following,  it  was  suggested  to  Messrs.  Wil- 
mer  and  Norris,  and  by  none  other  than  that  unhappy  man,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Dashiel,  of  Baltimore,  (whom  they  then  highly  esteemed, 
but  whom  they  abandoned  as  soon  as  his  unworthiness  was  known,) 
that  the  Rev.  Dr.  Moore,  of  New  York,  was  the  man  to  raise  up 
the  Church  in  Virginia.  Mr.  D.  had  become  acquainted  with  Dr. 
Moore  at  a  recent  General  Convention,  heard  him  eloquently  advo- 
cate the  introduction  of  more  hymns  into  the  Prayer  Book,  and 
preach  the  Gospel  with  zeal  and  power  in  several  large  churches. 
Dr.  Wilmer  and  myself  entered  into  a  correspondence  with  Dr. 
Moore,  which  led  to  his  election  at  the  next  Convention.  Some 
objections,  however,  were  privately  made  to  Dr.  Moore.  It  was 
said  that  Bishop  Hobart  had  complaints  against  him  for  some 
irregularities  in  carrying  on  the  work  of  the  ministry,  and  that  he 
was  somewhat  Methodistical.  It  so  happened,  however,  that  Bishop 
Hobart  had  written  a  most  favourable  letter  concerning  Dr.  Moore 
to  some  one  present,  which  being  shown,  all  opposition  was  silenced 
and  he  was  unanimously  elected  as  Bishop  of  the  Diocese,  and  im- 
mediately after,  or  perhaps  before,  as  Rector  of  the  Monumental 
Church,  which  had  been  reared  on  the  ruins  of  the  Richmond 
Theatre.  Bishop  Moore  was  consecrated  in  May  of  1814,  and  en- 
tered on  his  duties  in  the  summer  of  that  year.  Our  organization 
was  now  complete,  but  on  a  diminutive  scale.  Besides  the  few  older 
clergy,  who  had  almost  given  up  in  despair,  there  were  only  the 
Rev.  Messrs.  Wilmer  and  Norris,  in  Alexandria,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Lemmon,  who  had  just  come  to  Fauquier,  Mr.  Edward  McGuire, 
acting  as  lay-reader  in  Fredericksburg,  (preferred  by  the  people  in 
that  capacity  to  another  importation  from  abroad,)  and  the  one 
who  makes  this  record.  But  from  this  time  forth  a  favourable 
change  commenced.  Hope  sprung  up  in  the  bosoms  of  many 
hitherto  desponding.  Bishop  Moore  had  some  fine  qualifications 
for  the  work  of  revival.  His  venerable  form,  his  melodious  voice,  his 
popular  preaching,  his  evangelical  doctrine,  his  amiable  disposition, 
his  fund  of  anecdote  in  private,  and  his  love  for  the  Church,  all 
contributed  to  make  him  popular  and  successful,  so  far  as  he  was 
able  to  visit  and  put  forth  effort.  His  parochial  engagements  and 
bodily  infirmities  prevented  his  visiting  many  parts  of  the  diocese. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  39 

He  never  crossed  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  although  he  sometimes 
visited  North  Carolina,  which  then  had  no  Bishop.  In  the  spring 
of  1815,  the  first  Convention  under  his  Episcopate  assembled  in 
Richmond.  It  must  be  evident  to  all,  from  the  account  given  of 
the  past  history  of  the  Church  in  Virginia,  that  much  prejudice 
must  have  existed  against  it,  and  that  the  reputation  of  both  clergy 
and  people  for  true  piety  must  have  been  low,  and  that  it  was  most 
proper  to  take  some  early  occasion  of  setting  forth  the  principles 
on  which  it  was  proposed  to  attempt  its  resuscitation.  The  last 
Convention,  which  was  held  under  Bishop  Madison,  and  which  was 
followed  by  an  intermission  of  seven  years,  had  prepared  the  way 
for  this,  by  declaring  the  necessity  of  a  reform  in  the  manners  of 
both  clergy  and  laity  and  by  establishing  rules  for  the  trial  of  both. 
Wherefore,  among  the  first  things  which  engaged  the  consideration 
of  the  Convention  of  1815,  was  the  establishing  a  code  of  disci- 
pline. The  Diocese  of  Maryland,  from  which  two  of  our  brethren, 
the  Rev.  Messrs.  Wilmer  and  Norris,  came,  had  already  been  en- 
gaged in  the  same  work,  and  we  did  little  else  than  copy  the  regu- 
lations there  adopted.  But  although  they  were  only  the  grosser 
vices  of  drunkenness,  gaming,  extortion,  &c.  which  it  was  proposed 
to  condemn,  yet  great  opposition  was  made.  The  hue  and  cry  of 
priestly  usurpation  and  oppression  was  raised.  It  was  said  that 
the  Clergy  only  wanted  the  power,  and  fire  and  fagot  would  soon 
be  used  again — that  we  were  establishing  a  Methodist  Church,  and 
that  the  new  church  needed  reformation  already.  The  opposition 
indeed  was  such  at  this  and  the  ensuing  Convention,  that  we  had 
to  content  ourselves  with  renewing  the  general  resolutions  of  the 
Convention  of  1805,  under  Bishop  Madison.  In  two  years  after 
this,  however,  in  the  Convention  held  in  Winchester,  when  the 
number  of  the  clergy  and  the  piety  of  the  laymen  had  increased, 
the  subject  was  again  brought  up,  and  the  condemnation  of  those 
things  which  brought  reproach  on  the  Church  was  extended  to 
theatres,  horse-racing,  and  public  balls,  by  an  overwhelming  ma- 
jority. The  same  has  been  renewed  and  enforced  at  a  more  recent 
one.  The  Church  now  began  to  move  on  with  more  rapid  strides. 
In  looking  over  the  list  of  the  clergy  who  were  added  to  our  ranks 
in  the  few  following  years  we  see  the  names  of  such  men  as  Haw- 
ley,  Horrell,  the  two  Aliens,  the  Lowes,  Ravenscroft,  Smith,  now 
Bishop  of  Kentucky,  Wingfield,  the  elder  Armstrong,  of  Wheeling, 
Charles  Page,  Keith,  Lippitt,  Alexander  Jones,  Cobbs,  George 
Smith,  William  Lee,  John  Grammer,  J.  P.  McGuire,  Brooke,  the 
Jacksons,  and  others.  The  itinerant  labours  of  some  of  them  de- 


40  OLD   CHTJRCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

serve  special  notice.  Benjamin  Allen's  labours  in  the  Valley  of 
Virginia,  Charles  Page's  in  the  counties  of  Amherst,  Nelson,  &c., 
Mr.  Cobb's  in  Bedford  and  the  counties  round  about,  William  Lee's 
in  Amelia,  Goochland,  Powhatan,  and  others,  Mr.  Grammer's  in 
Dinwiddie,  Brunswick,  Greenville,  Surry,  and  Prince  George,  and 
J.  P.  McGuire's  between  the  Kappahannock  and  James  Rivers, 
were  such  as  few  professedly  itinerant  preachers  ever  surpass. 
Without  such  self-denying  labours,  the  Church  could  never  have 
been  revived  in  these  places.  The  faithful  and  zealous  men,  whom 
I  have  enumerated  above,  were  accompanied  and  have  been  fol- 
lowed by  other  faithful  ones,  too  numerous  to  mention. 

THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY. 

It  is  time  that  I  should  now  advert  to  the  origin  and  progress  of 
one  great  instrument  of  the  Church's  prosperity  in  Virginia, — the 
Theological  Seminary  at  Alexandria.  As  Bishop  Moore  was  about 
leaving  New  York  for  Virginia,  in  the  summer  of  1814,  Dr.  Au- 
gustine Smith,  a  native  of  Virginia,  who  had  been  for  some  years 
Professor  in  a  Medical  School  in  New  York  and  who  was  then 
about  to  take  charge  of  William  and  Mary  College,  met  him  in  the 
street  and  proposed  that  the  Church  in  Virginia  should  establish  a 
Theological  Professorship  in  Williamsburg,  and  thus  make  the  Col- 
lege, what  its  royal  patrons  designed,  a  School  of  the  Prophets. 
Bishop  Moore  encouraged  the  proposal,  and  a  deputation  of  one  of 
the  Professors  was  sent  to  the  Convention  of  1815  for  the  purpose 
of  promoting  the  plan.  The  Convention  approved  it,  and  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Keith  became  the  minister  of  the  Episcopal  congregation  in 
Williamsburg,  and  was  prepared  to  instruct  any  candidates  for  the 
ministry  who  might  be  sent  there.  During  a  stay  of  two  years 
only  one  presented  himself.  On  various  accounts  Williamsburg 
was  found  to  be  an  unsuitable  place.  The  Convention  of  Virginia 
had  appointed  Col.  Edward  Colston  and  myself  a  Committee  to 
correspond  with  the  Bishop  of  Maryland  and  some  leading  laymen 
in  North  Carolina,  proposing  a  union  with  Virginia  in  the  establish- 
ment and  management  of  the  Seminary  at  Williamsburg.  From 
North  Carolina  we  received  no  answer.  From  the  Bishop  of  Mary- 
land* we  received  a  prompt  and  decided  refusal,  accompanied  with 
such  severe  strictures  on  the  religion  and  morals  of  Virginia  that 
we  did  not  present  it  to  the  Convention,  but  only  reported  our 

*  Bishop  Kemp. 


FAMILIES   OP  VIRGINIA.  41 

failure.  Williamsburg  especially  was  objected  to  on  account  of  its 
infidelity  as  altogether  unfit  to  be  the  seat  of  such  an  institution. 
Those  of  us  who  were  engaged  in  the  resuscitation  of  the  Church 
were  also  said  to  be  extravagant  in  some  of  our  notions,  as  is  apt 
to  be  the  case  with  those  who  in  flying  from  one  extreme  rush  into 
the  other.  There  was  much  in  the  letter  but  too  true  of  the  laity 
and  clergy,  both  of  Maryland  and  Virginia,  in  that  and  past  days. 
Having  failed  in  our  experiment  at  Williamsburg,  we  determined  to 
make  trial  of  it  in  Alexandria,  by  the  help  of  our  Education  Society 
— Dr.  Keith,  Dr.  Wilmer,  and  Mr.  Norris,  being  the  Professors. 
The  General  Theological  Seminary  was  now  getting  under  way, 
and  its  friends  were  afraid  of  some  interference  with  its  prosperity. 
The  ground  was  taken  that  this  was  the  institution  of  the  Church, 
and  its  claims  paramount  to  all  others.  Most  threatening  letters 
were  addressed  to  Bishop  Moore,  calling  upon  him  as  a  Bishop  of 
the  General  Church,  bound  to  guard  its  unity,  to  interpose  and 
prevent  the  establishment  of  the  Seminary  at  Alexandria.  Hap- 
pily for  us,  Mr.  Kohn  had  bequeathed  a  large  fund  for  the  General 
Seminary  in  New  York,  where  it  was  located  when  the  will  was 
written ;  but,  meanwhile,  it  had  been  removed  to  New  Haven,  and 
it  was  contended  that  it  could  not  inherit  a  legacy  which  was  given 
to  an  institution  in  New  York.  Bishop  Hob  art  now  took  the 
field  in  favour  of  Diocesan  Seminaries  and  wrote  a  pamphlet  on  the 
subject,  claiming  the  legacy  for  one  to  be  established  in  New  York, 
under  Diocesan  rule.  A  General  Convention  was  called  to  settle 
the  question,  and  it  was  compromised  by  restoring  the  General 
Seminary  to  New  York,  on  certain  terms,  which,  as  it  was  foreseen 
and  predicted,  made  it  and  has  continued  it,  virtually,  a  New  York 
Seminary.  But  we  heard  no  more  after  that  of  the  schismatical 
character  of  the  Virginia  Seminary,  nor  have  we  since  that  time 
heard  any  other  objections  of  the  kind  to  those  established  in  Ohio, 
Kentucky,  Illinois,  and  Connecticut.  Our  Seminary  continued  for 
several  years  in  the  town  of  Alexandria,  until  we  raised  sufficient 
funds  to  purchase  its  present  site  and  erect  some  of  its  buildings. 
We  are  indebted  to  the  zeal  of  Mr.  John  Nelson,  of  Mecklenburg, 
for  the  first  moneys  collected  for  that  purpose.  He  visited  a  con- 
siderable part  of  the  State,  and  raised  a  handsome  contribution  to 
it.  In  the  year  1828  I  took  my  turn,  and  visited  a  still  larger 
portion  of  the  State,  realizing  a  greater  amount.  Other  calls 
have  at  successive  periods  been  made,  and  always  with  success. 
An  attempt  to  raise  an  Episcopal  fund  for  a  time  interfered  with 


42  OLD    CHTJRCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

and   postponed  this,  but  it  was  soon  evident  that  this  was  the 
favourite  with  the  people,  and  the  other  was  relinquished. 


CLERICAL   ASSOCIATIONS. 

Next  in  the  order  of  time,  and  agreeably  to  a  recommendation 
in  one  of  the  Conventions  in  Bishop  Madison's  time,  comes  the 
establishment  of  Clerical  Associations.  The  first  of  these  was  in 
the  Valley  of  Virginia,  consisting  of  the  ministers  of  Berkeley, 
Jefferson,  and  Frederick — Dr.  Balmaine,  the  Kev.  Benjamin  Allen, 
Enoch  Lowe,  Mr.  Brian,  and  myself, — Benjamin  Smith,  now 
Bishop  Smith,  coming  among  us  soon  after.  We  assembled  quar- 
terly in  each  other's  parishes;  preaching  for  several  days  and 
nights ;  having  meetings  among  ourselves,  and  at  private  houses, 
for  special  prayer;  taking  up  collections  for  missionaries  to  the 
western  part  of  Virginia.  The  two  first  who  went  to  Virginia 
beyond  the  Alleghanies — the  Rev.  Charles  Page  and  William  Lee 
— were  sent  out  by  our  Society.  These  Associations  were 
attended  by  much  good  and  no  evil,  so  far  as  I  know  and  believe. 
I  have  ever  encouraged  them  since  entering  the  Episcopate,  and 
Bishop  Moore  did  the  same  before  and  after  that  time,  as  being 
most  important  auxiliaries  to  the  Bishops,  especially  in  large 
dioceses.  I  regard  it  as  an  evil  omen,  when  ministers,  favour- 
ably situated,  are  averse  to  such  means  of  their  own  and  their 
people's  improvement,  though  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  there 
are  not  some  good  and  pious  men  who  regard  them  in  a  different 
light. 

OUR   CONVENTIONS   COME   NEXT. 

For  the  first  few  years  after  our  reorganization  our  Conventions 
were  not  only  small  as  to  numbers,  but  sad  and  gloomy  in  charac- 
ter, attracting  no  attention.  A  succession  of  the  rainy  seasons  in 
May  attended  them  for  so  many  years  that  the  two  were  closely 
associated  in  the  public  mind.  For  some  years  they  were  held  in 
Richmond ;  but  the  proverbial  and  profuse  hospitality  of  that  place 
was  not  then  generally  afforded  them.  For  the  most  part,  both 
clerical  and  lay  delegates  were  to  be  seen  only  at  the  taverns,  and 
but  few  religious  services  were  held.  The  Convention  at  Frede- 
ricksburg — the  first  after  the  system  of  rotation  commenced — was 
kindly  and  hospitably  entertained,  and  from  that  time  onward  they 
became  not  only  delightful  to  the  clergy  and  laity  composing  them, 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  43 

but  attractive  to  others.  To  understand  aright  the  history  of  such 
large  assemblies  as  our  Conventions  attract,  and  the  reasons  which 
justify  our  encouragement  of  them  by  making  religious  exercises 
so  large  a  part  of  their  doings,  it  must  be  stated  that  not  only  are 
the  Virginians  a  people  given  to  visiting,  but  that  the  Episcopalians 
are  peculiarly  so  by  reason  of  the  fact  that,  for  the  most  part, 
they  have  sprung  from  a  comparatively  few  families,  who,  by  mar- 
riages and  intermarriages,  though  scattered  all  over  the  State, 
make  up  one  great  family  of  tenderly-attached  relatives,  who  are 
always  pleased  at  a  good  excuse,  if  the  ability  allows,  to  assemble 
together.  The  bond  of  Christian  fellowship  and  of  Church  feeling 
also  is  very  strong,  even  where  the  other  is  not,  as  well  as  where  it 
is.  Hospitality  also  is  a  strong  principle  with  them,  and  it  is  easier 
here  than  in  most  places  to  throw  open  the  doors  and  welcome  all 
who  will  come  in  on  such  occasions.  A  more  innocent  mode — nay, 
a  more  religious  mode — of  gratifying  the  social  feeling  cannot  be 
than  that  of  meeting  together  at  our  Conventions ;  and  an  impera- 
tive duty  rests  on  the  ministers  to  afford  the  people  the  most  fre- 
quent and  edifying  services  in  their  power,  so  that  they  may  take 
up  the  song  of  God's  ancient  people,  when  going  by  Divine  com- 
mand to  the  great  feasts  of  His  own  appointment : — 

"Oh!  'twas  a  joyful  sound  to  hear 

The  tribes  devoutly  say, 
Up,  Israel !  to  the  temple  haste, 
And  keep  the  festal  day." 

Sometimes  they  have  been  most  edifying  as  well  as  joyful  occa- 
sions. The  presence  of  God  has  been  felt.  The  word  preached 
has  been  attended  with  great  power.  Many  have  remembered 
them  as  the  means  of  their  awakening,  and  many  as  the  channels 
of  more  grace  to  their  already  converted  souls.  Long  may  they 
continue  to  be  thus  used.  Even  if  some  dioceses  are  so  small,  or 
the  conveyances  so  convenient  and  rapid,  that  a  few  hours  or  at 
most  a  day  can  bring  them  all  to  the  place  of  meeting,  and  a  very 
short  time  may  suffice  for  legislation  and  business,  let  it  be  remem- 
bered how  very  large  are  the  dimensions  of  the  Diocese  of  Virginia, 
how  difficult  and  tedious  the  journey  of  many  of  its  members  to 
the  Convention,  and  it  will  be  felt  and  acknowledged  that  to  meet 
on  mere  business  for  a  few  hours  or  a  day  would  not  be  sufficient 
to  induce  and  remunerate  the  attendance  of  either  clergy  or  laity. 


44  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 


THE   REQUIRING   OF   LAY  DELEGATES  TO   BE   COMMUNICANTS. 

We  have  already  spoken  of  the  measures  adopted  for  the  purifi- 
cation of  the  Church  from  evil-livers,  among  hoth  clergy  and  laity, 
hy  the  passage  of  wholesome  canons.  At  three  successive  periods 
was  this  done,  opposition  being  made  each  time,  and  six  Conven 
tions  in  all  being  in  part  occupied  in  the  discussion  and  contest. 
We  now  refer  to  the  method  adopted,  after  a  considerable  time  had 
elapsed,  for  the  purification  of  our  Conventions  from  unworthy  lay 
delegates,  by  requiring  that  they  be  in  full  communion  with  the 
Church,  and  not  merely  baptized  members  or  professed  friends, 
whether  baptized  or  not.  No  law,  either  of  the  General  or  State 
Conventions,  forbade  an  infidel  or  the  most  immoral  man  from  being 
the  deputy  from  a  parish  in  the  Diocesan  Convention,  although  ques- 
tions might  come  before  them  touching  the  Creed  and  Articles  and 
worship  of  the  Church,  or  the  trial  of  bishops,  clergy,  and  lay- 
men. The  strange  anomaly  of  persons  legislating  for  others  and 
not  being  themselves  subject  to  such  legislation  was  allowed  in  the 
Church,  when  it  would  have  been  resisted  in  any  and  every  other 
society.  The  consequence  resulted,  that,  although  there  was  a 
great  improvement  in  the  general  character  of  the  Church  and  the 
respectability  of  the  lay  delegation  to  our  Conventions,  we  were 
still  distressed  and  mortified  at  the  occasional  appearance  of  one 
or  more  unworthy  members,  who  were  a  scandal  to  the  Church, 
the  scandal  being  the  greater  because  of  the  number  of  attendants. 
The  frequenters  of  the  race-ground  and  the  card-table  and  the 
lovers  of  the  intoxicating  cup  sometimes  found  their  way  through 
this  unguarded  door  into  the  legislative  hall.  It  was  proposed  to 
close  it ;  but  strenuous  opposition  was  made  by  some,  as  to  a 
measure  assailing  individual  and  congregational  rights.  It  was 
discussed  for  three  successive  years,  and  though  a  considerable 
majority  was  always  ready  to  pass  the  proposed  canon,  that  ma- 
jority yielded  so  far  to  the  minority  as  to  allow  of  delay  and 
further  consideration,  which  only  resulted  in  the  final  passage  of  it 
by  increased  and  overwhelming  numbers.  An  incident  occurred, 
during  one  of  the  discussions,  showing  how  the  consciences  of  even 
those  who  are  not  in  full  communion  with  the  Church  approve  of 
wholesome  legislation  and  discipline.  A  worthy  clergyman,  who 
was  opposing  the  canon,  referred  to  his  own  lay  delegate  as  a  proof 
of  what  excellent  men  might  be  sent  to  the  Convention,  who  were 
nevertheless  not  communicants.  When  he  was  seated,  the  lay  dele- 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  45 

gate,  a  very  humble  and  good  man,  who  had  never  spoken  before 
in  Convention,  rose  and  expressed  his  entire  dissent  from  his  min- 
ister, and,  as  it  was  proposed  to  postpone  the  question  until  the 
next  day,  begged  that  there  might  be  no  delay,  as  he  should  sleep 
more  quietly  that  night  after  having  given  his  vote  in  favour  of  so 
necessary  a  regulation.  He  lived  to  appear  in  our  body  once  more 
in  full  communion  with  the  Church.  We  have  never,  since  the 
adoption  of  this  rule,  had  cause  to  repent  of  our  legislation,  or  to 
blush  for  the  scandal  cast  upon  us  by  unworthy  members. 

POLICY  OF  THE   BISHOPS  AND   CLERGY  OF  VIRGINIA  IN  REGARD   TO 

TRACTARIANISM. 

At  an  early  period  Bishop  Moore  called  the  attention  of  the 
clergy  and  laity  of  Virginia  to  this  heretical  and  Romish  move- 
ment, when  it  overhung  our  horizon  only  as  a  cloud  no  larger  than 
a  man's  hand.  But  it  was  a  black  and  portentous  one.  The  Con- 
vention in  Norfolk,  with  a  few  exceptions,  agreed  with  him  in  the 
propriety  of  warning  against  the  giving  of  any  encouragement  to 
the  circulation  of  the  insidious  tracts.  At  the  meeting  in  Alexan- 
dria, the  following  year,  when  they  had  been  circulated  through 
the  land,  having  already  done  much  evil  in  our  Mother-Church,  a 
call  was  made  upon  all  to  expose  and  condemn  the  false  doctrines 
thereof.  The  Bishops  and  ministers  did  their  duty  in  sounding  the 
alarm,  and  the  faithful  Professors  of  our  Seminary  did  theirs.  The 
consequence  is  that  the  Church  of  Virginia  has  been  preserved 
from  the  ill  effects  of  the  erroneous  and  strange  doctrines  taught 
by  that  school. 

THE   USE    OF   THE   LITURGY   AND   VESTMENTS   IN   VIRGINIA. 

From  what  has  been  said  in  the  foregoing  pages  as  to  the 
deplorable  condition  of  the  Church  in  Virginia,  it  may  well  be 
imagined  that  its  liturgical  services  were  often  very  imperfectly 
performed.  In  truth,  the  responsive  parts  were  almost  entirely 
confined  to  the  clerk,  who,  in  a  loud  voice,  sung  or  drawled  them 
out.  As  to  the  psalmody,  it  is  believed  that  the  Hundredth  Psalm, 
to  the  tune  of  Old  Hundred,  was  so  generally  used  as  the  signal 
of  the  Service  begun,  that  it  was  regarded  as  the  law  of  the  Church. 
A  case  has  been  mentioned  to  me  by  good  authority,  where  a  new 
minister,  having  varied  from  the  established  custom,  gave  out  a 
different  psalm ;  but  the  clerk,  disregarding  it,  sung  as  usual  the 
Hundredth.  So  unaccustomed  were  the  people  to  join  in  the  Ser- 


46  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  AND 

vice,  that  when  I  took  charge  of  the  congregation  in  Alexandria 
in  1811  I  tried  in  vain  to  introduce  the  practice,  until  I  fell  on  the 
expedient  of  making  the  children,  who  in  large  numbers  came 
weekly  to  my  house  to  be  catechized,  go  over  certain  parts  of  the 
Service  and  the  Psalms  with  me,  and,  after  having  thus  trained 
them,  on  a  certain  Sabbath  directed  them  to  respond  heartily  and 
loudly  in  the  midst  of  the  grown  ones.  They  did  their  part  well, 
and  complete  success  soon  attended  the  plan.  Throughout  the 
State,  when  not  only  the  friends  of  the  Church  were  rapidly  dimi- 
nishing and  Prayer  Books  were  very  scarce,  but  even  clerks  were 
hard  to  be  gotten,  I  presume  that  the  Services  were  very  irregu- 
larly performed.  I  knew  of  an  instance  where  the  clergyman  did 
not  even  take  a  Prayer  Book  into  the  pulpit,  but,  committing  to 
memory  some  of  the  principal  prayers  of  the  Morning  Service,  used 
them  in  the  pulpit  before  sermon,  after  the  manner  of  other  deno- 
minations. I  am  unable  to  say  whether  it  ever  was,  or  had  been 
for  a  long  time,  the  habit  of  any  or  of  many  of  the  ministers  to 
use  what  is  called  the  full  Service,  combining  what  all  acknowledge 
to  have  been  originally  the  three  distinct  parts  of  the  old  English 
cathedral  Service,  and  used  separately  at  different  portions  of  the 
day,  namely,  the  Morning  Service  proper,  the  Litany,  the  Ante- 
Communion  Service,  and  which,  without  law,  were  gradually 
blended  into  one,  for  the  convenience  of  those  who  preferred  one 
long  to  three  short  services.  The  probability  is,  that  in  a  church 
without  a  head  and  any  thing  like  discipline,  the  practice  may  have 
been  very  various,  according  to  the  consciences,  tastes,  and  conve- 
nience of  those  who  officiated.  The  practice  of  those  who  engaged 
in  the  resuscitation  of  the  Church  in  Virginia,  was  to  use  the  two 
former  portions  of  the  Liturgy — the  Morning  Service  and  Litany 
— and  to  omit  the  Ante-Communion  Service,  except  on  communion 
days.  This  was  introduced  among  us  by  the  brethren  who  came 
from  Maryland,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wilmer,  Norris,  and  Lemmon,  who 
doubtless  believed  that  it  was  according  to  the  design  of  those  who 
arranged  the  American  Prayer  Book.  They  quoted  as  authority 
the  declaration  and  practice  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Smith,  who,  as  may 
be  seen  in  the  journals  of  our  earliest  General  Convention,  took  a 
leading  part  in  the  changes  of  the  Prayer  Book.  Dr.  Smith,  after 
leaving  Philadelphia,  settled  in  Chestertown,  Md.,  where  it  was 
declared  he  never  used  the  Ante-Communion  Service.  Dr.  "VVilmer 
was  one  of  his  successors,  and  said  that  it  was  also  affirmed  that 
Dr.  Smith  avowed  himself  to  have  been  the  author  of  one  or  more 
of  the  Rubrics,  on  the  meaning  and  design  of  which  rested  the 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  47 

question  of  obligation  to  use  the  Ante-Communion  Service  every 
Sabbath,  and  that  he  had  in  view  the  permission  to  leave  it  optional 
with  the  minister.  I  am  aware  that  Bishop  White  has  expressed  a 
different  opinion,  and  that  his  practice  was  otherwise,  nor  do  I  pur- 
pose to  discuss  the  question  or  take  sides,  but  only  to  state  the 
authority  on  which  the  Virginia  custom  was  advocated.  Neither 
do  I  mean  to  appropriate  this  custom  exclusively  to  Virginia  and  a 
part  of  Maryland.  In  other  parts  of  the  land  there  were  those  who 
adopted  it.  I  had  it  from  the  lips  of  Bishop  Hobart  himself,  that 
a  portion  of  the  clergy  of  New  York  omitted  that  part  of  the  Ser- 
vice, and,  as  I  shall  show  hereafter,  it  was  this  fact  which  had 
much  to  do  with  his  proposition  to  abridge  the  Service  in  other 
parts,  in  order  the  more  easily  to  enforce  the  use  of  this  favourite 
portion.  The  Bishop  acknowledged  to  me  that  the  Virginia  clergy 
were  not  the  only  transgressors  in  this  respect.  This  much  I  can 
say,  that  if  they  did  err  in  the  understanding  of  the  rubric,  they 
made  amends  for  the  abridgment  of  the  Service  by  seeking  to 
perform  what  was  used  in  a  more  animated  manner,  and  to  intro- 
duce a  warm  and  zealous  response  among  the  people,  and  also  by  more 
lengthened,  animated,  and  evangelical  discourses  from  the  pulpit. 
Nor  was  there  any  attempt  to  enforce  upon  all  the  practice  thus 
commenced.  From  the  first,  every  minister  has  been  allowed  the 
free  exercise  of  his  conscience  and  judgment  in  regard  to  it.  For 
a  time,  Bishop  Moore,  who  had  been  accustomed  to  the  fuller  ser- 
vice in  the  city  of  New  York,  was  disposed  to  urge  the  same  upon 
the  clergy  of  Virginia,  but,  after  some  observation  and  experience, 
became  satisfied  that  it  was  best  to  leave  it  to  the  discretion  of  each 
minister,  and,  though  in  his  own  parish  he  always  used  it,  never 
required  the  same  in  his  visits  to  others. 

As  to  the  vestments,  the  same  liberty  and  the  same  variety  has 
ever  existed  in  the  Church  of  Virginia,  without  interruption  to  its 
harmony.  It  is  well  known  that  the  controversy  in  our  Mother- 
Church  concerning  the  use  of  the  surplice  was  a  long  and  bitter 
and  most  injurious  one;  was,  indeed,  considered  by  some  of  her 
ablest  Bishops  and  clergy  as  that  which  was  the  main  point  which 
caused  the  final  secession ;  that  if  the  obligation  to  use  it  had  been 
removed,  the  Church  would,  for  at  least  a  much  longer  period,  have 
been  undivided.  Various  attempts  were  made  to  abolish  the  canon 
or  rubric  enforcing  it,  but  it  was  thought  improper  to  humour  the 
dissenters  by  so  doing,  and  alleged  that  if  this  were  done  other 
demands  would  be  made.  At  the  revision  of  the  Prayer  Book  by 
our  American  fathers,  this  and  other  changes,  which  had  long  been 


48  OLD   CH¥RCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

desired  by  many  in  England,  and  still  are,  were  at  once  made,  and 
the  dress  of  the  clergy  left  to  their  own  good  sense,  it  being  only 
required  that  it  should  be  decent.  I  believe  it  has  never  been  at- 
tempted but  once  to  renew  the  law  enforcing  clerical  habits.  Soon 
after  I  entered  the  House  of  Bishops  some  one  in  the  other  House 
proposed  such  a  canon.  A  warm  but  short  discussion  ensued, 
which  ended  in  the  withdrawal  of  what  found  but  little  favour. 
During  the  discussion  the  subject  was  mentioned  among  the  Bishops, 
who  seemed  all  opposed  to  it,  and  one  of  whom,  more  disposed, 
perhaps,  to  such  things  than  any  other,  cried  out,  "De  minimis 
non  cur  at  lex.'1  That  the  old  clergy  of  Virginia  should  have  been 
very  uniform  and  particular  in  the  use  of  the  clerical  vestments  is 
most  improbable,  from  the  structure  of  the  churches  and  the  loca- 
tion of  their  vestry-rooms.  The  vestry-rooms  formed  no  part  of 
the  old  churches,  but  were  separate  places  in  the  yard  or  neigh- 
bourhood, sometimes  a  mile  or  two  off.  They  were  designed  for 
civil  as  well  as  religious  purposes,  and  were  located  for  the  conve- 
nience of  the  vestrymen,  who  levied  taxes  and  attended  to  all  the 
secular  as  well  as  ecclesiastical  business  of  the  parish.  The  setting 
apart  some  portion  of  the  old  churches  as  robing  or  vestry-rooms 
is  quite  a  modern  thing,  and  it  is  not  at  all  probable  that  the  min- 
isters would  have  gone  backward  and  forward  between  the  pulpits 
and  the  former  vestry-rooms  in  the  churchyards,  to  change  their 
garments.*  The  clergy  of  Virginia,  from  the  first  efforts  at  resus- 
citating the  Church,  have  been  charged  by  some  with  being  too 
indifferent  to  clerical  garments ;  nor  have  they  been  very  careful 
to  repel  the  charge,  thinking  it  better  to  err  in  this  way  than  in  the 
opposite.  Bishop  Hobart  once  taunted  me  with  this,  though  at  the 
same  time  he  acknowledged  that  there  were  times  and  places  when 
it  would  be  folly  to  think  of  using  the  clerical  garments,  saying? 
that  in  his  visitations,  especially  to  Western  New  York,  he  some- 
times dispensed  not  only  with  the  Episcopal  robes  but  even  with 
the  black  gown.  The  Bishops  of  Virginia  have  sometimes  been 
condemned  for  not  requiring  the  candidates  to  be  dressed  in  sur- 
plices at  the  time  of  their  admission  to  deacons'  orders,  although 
there  is  no  canon  or  rubric  looking  to  such  a  thing.  They  are  at 
least  as  good  Churchmen,  in  this  respect,  as  the  English  Bishops. 
When  in  England,  some  years  since,  I  witnessed  the  ordination  of 
fifty  deacons,  by  the  present  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  in  Durham 

*  In  the  year  1723  the  Bishop  of  London  inquires  of  the  clergy  of  Virginia  con- 
cerning this.     Some  reply  that  the  surplice  is  provided,  and  others  that  it  is  not. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  49 

Cathedral,  not  one  of  whom  was  surpliced ;  some  of  them,  as  well 
as  I  remember,  having  on  their  college  gowns,  answering  to  our 
black  gowns,  and  others  only  their  common  garments.  There  is,  I 
think,  less  disposition  to  form  and  parade  there  than  is  sometimes 
seen  in  our  own  country.  I  only  add  that  Bishop  Moore,  in  his 
visitations,  always  took  his  seat  in  the  chancel  in  his  ordinary  dress, 
except  when  about  to  perform  some  official  act,  and  thus  addressed 
the  congregation  after  the  sermon.  I  have  seen  no  cause  to  depart 
from  his  example. 

GLEBES  AND   SALARIES   WITHDRAWN. 

It  has  been  made  a  matter  of  great  complaint  against  the  Legis- 
lature of  Virginia,  that  it  should  not  only  have  withdrawn  the  sti- 
pend of  sixteen  thousand-weight  of  tobacco  from  the  clergy,  but 
also  have  seized  upon  the  glebes.  I  do  not  mean  to  enter  upon  the 
discussion  of  the  legality  of  that  act,  or  of  the  motives  of  those 
who  petitioned  for  it.  Doubtless  there  were  many  who  sincerely 
thought  that  it  was  both  legal  and  right,  and  that  they  were  doing 
God  and  religion  a  service  by  it.  I  hesitate  not,  however,  to  ex- 
press the  opinion,  in  which  I  have  been  and  am  sustained  by  many 
of  the  best  friends  of  the  Church  then  and  ever  since,  that  nothing 
could  have  been  more  injurious  to  the  cause  of  true  religion  in  the 
Episcopal  Church,  or  to  its  growth  in  any  way,  than  the  con- 
tinuance of  either  stipend  or  glebes.  Many  clergymen  of  the 
most  unworthy  character  would  have  been  continued  among  us,  and 
such  a  revival  as  we  have  seen  have  never  taken  place.  As  it  was, 
together  with  the  glebes  and  salaries  evil  ministers  disappeared 
and  made  room  for  a  new  and  different  kind.  Even  in  cases 
where,  from  some  peculiarity  in  the  manner  in  which  the  glebes 
were  first  gotten  and  the  tenure  by  which  they  were  held,  the  law 
could  not  alienate  them  from  the  parish,  they  have  been,  I  believe, 
without  an  exception,  a  drawback  to  the  temporal  and  spiritual 
prosperity  of  the  congregations,  by  relaxing  the  efforts  of  the 
people  to  support  the  ministry  and  making  them  to  rely  on  the 
uncertain  profits  of  their  contested  or  pillaged  lands.  The  preju- 
dices excited  against  the  Church  by  the  long  contest  for  them  were 
almost  overwhelming  to  her  hopes,  and  a  successful  termination  of 
that  contest  might  have  been  utterly  fatal  to  them  for  a  long  pe- 
riod of  time.  Not  merely  have  the  pious  members  of  the  Church 
taken  this  view  of  the  subject,  since  the  revival  of  it  under  other 
auspices,  but  many  of  those  who  preferred  the  Church  at  that  day, 

4 


50  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

for  other  reasons  than  her  evangelical  doctrine  and  worship,  saw 
that  it  was  best  that  she  be  thrown  upon  her  own  resources.  I  had 
a  conversation  many  years  since  with  Mr.  Madison,  soon  after  he 
.ceased  to  be  President  of  the  United  States,  in  which  I  became 
assured  of  this.  He  himself  took  an  active  part  in  promoting  the 
act  for  the  putting  down  the  establishment  of  the  Episcopal  Church, 
while  his  relative  was  Bishop  of  it  and  all  his  family  connection 
attached  to  it.  He  mentioned  an  anecdote  illustrative  of  the  pre- 
ference of  many  for  it  who  still  advocated  the  repeal  of  all  its 
peculiar  privileges.  I  give  his  own  words.  At  a  time  when  lobby 
members  were  sent  by  some  of  the  other  denominations  to  urge 
the  repeal  of  all  laws  favouring  the  Episcopal  Church,  one,  an 
elder  of  a  church,  came  from  near  Hampton,  who  pursued  his 
work  with  great  fearfulness  and  prudence.  An  old-fashioned  Epis- 
copal gentleman,  of  the  true  Federal  politics,  with  a  three-cornered 
hat,  powdered  hair,  long  queue,  and  white  top-boots,  perceived  him 
approaching  very  cautiously  one  day,  as  if  afraid  though  desirous 
to  speak.  Whereupon  he  encouraged  the  elder  to  come  forward, 
saying  that  he  was  already  with  him,  that  he  was  clear  for  giving 
all  a  fair  chance,  that  there  were  many  roads  to  heaven,  and  he 
was  in  favour  of  letting  every  man  take  his  own  way ;  but  he  was 
sure  of  one  thing,  that  no  gentleman  would  choose  any  but  the 
Episcopal.  Although  I  am  far  from  assenting  to  the  conclusion 
that  no  gentlemen  are  to  be  found  in  other  denominations,  or  that 
there  were  none  in  Virginia  at  that  time  who  had  become  alienated 
from  the  Episcopal  and  attached  to  other  churches,  yet  it  cannot 
be  denied  that  the  more  educated  and  refined  were  generally  averse 
to  any  but  the  Episcopal  Church,  while  many,  of  whom  the  above- 
mentioned  was  a  fair  representative,  were  in  favour  of  equal  privi- 
leges to  all.*  It  may  be  well  here  to  state,  what  will  more  fully 
appear  when  we  come  to  speak  of  the  old  glebes  and  churches  in 
a  subsequent  number,  that  the  character  of  the  laymen  of  Virginia 
for  morals  and  religion  was  in  general  greatly  in  advance  of  that 
of  the  clergy.  The  latter,  for  the  most  part,  were  the  refuse  or 
more  indifferent  of  the  English,  Irish,  and  Scottish  Episcopal 


*  Mr.  Madison's  mother  was  a  pious  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  She  lived 
with  him,  but  was  of  such  feeble  health  that  she  could  not  attend  public  worship 
for  many  of  her  latter  years.  On  this  account,  as  doubtless  from  a  general  principle 
of  hospitality,  Mr.  Madison,  who  was  very  regular  in  his  attendance  at  worship, 
which,  during  his  day,  was  held  at  the  court-house  in  Orange  county,  there  being 
no  church  for  some  time,  always  invited  our  ministers  to  his  house,  where  they  ad- 
ministered the  Lord's  Supper  to  his  venerable  mother. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  51 

Churches,  who  could  not  find  promotion  and  employment  at  home. 
The  former  were  natives  of  the  soil  and  descendants  of  respectable 
ancestors  who  migrated  at  an  early  period.  For  high  and  honour- 
able character  and  a  due  appreciation  of  what  was  required  in 
ministers  of  the  Gospel  there  were  numerous  influential  laymen 
who  would  favourably  compare  with  those  of  any  part  of  the  land. 
Some  of  the  vestries,  as  their  records  painfully  show,  did  what 
they  could  to  displace  unworthy  ministers,  though  they  often  failed 
through  defect  of  law.  In  order  to  avoid  the  danger  of  having 
evil  ministers  fastened  upon  them,  as  well  as  from  the  scarcity  of 
ministers,  they  made  much  use  of  lay-readers  as  substitutes.  In 
some  instances,  as  will  be  seen,  such  readers  were  very  successful 
in  strengthening  the  things  which  remained  after  the  Church  was 
deprived  of  her  possessions  and  privileges  and  the  clergy  had 
abandoned  their  charges.  The  reading  of  the  Service  and  sermons 
in  private  families,  which  contributed  so  much  to  the  preservation 
of  an  attachment  to  the  Church  in  the  same,  was  doubtless  pro- 
moted by  this  practice  of  lay-reading.  Those  whom  Providence 
raised  up  to  resuscitate  the  fallen  Church  of  Virginia  can  testify 
to  the  fact  that  the  families  who  descended  from  the  above-men- 
tioned have  been  their  most  effective  supports.  Existing  in  greater 
or  less  numbers  throughout  the  State,  they  have  been  the  first  to 
originate  measures  for  the  revival  of  the  Church,  and  the  most 
active  and  liberal  ever  since  in  the  support  of  her  ministers. 
More  intelligent  and  devoted  Churchmen,  more  hospitable  and 
warm-hearted  friends  of  the  clergy,  can  nowhere  be  found.  And 
when  in  the  providence  of  God  they  are  called  on  to  leave  their 
ancient  homes  and  form  new  settlements  in  the  distant  South  and 
West,  none  are  more  active  and  reliable  in  transplanting  the 
Church  of  their  Fathers. 

SOME   REFLECTIONS   GROWING   OUT  OF   THE   FOREGOING  PAGES. 

The  desertions  from  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Virginia  on  the 
part  of  many  who  were  awakened  to  a  deeper  sense  of  religion, 
the  violent  opposition  made  to  it,  the  persevering  and  successful 
efforts  for  its  downfall,  the  advantage  taken  by  politicians  for  pro- 
moting their  objects,  the  abandonment  of  their  charges  by  far  the 
greater  part  of  the  ministers  so  soon  as  their  salaries  were  with- 
drawn and  when  only  unprofitable  glebes  remained  to  them,  are 
events  in  history  which  must  have  resulted  from  some  powerful 
cause  or  causes.  The  leading  one  must  be  found  in  the  irreligious 


52  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

character  and  defective  preaching  of  the  clergy,  operating  more  or 
less  on  the  laity,  for  it  will  always  be,  in  some  degree,  "  like  priest 
like  people."  The  ignorance,  superstition,  and  corruption  of  the 
Romish  clergy  and  people  invited  that  grand  assault  of  the  great 
enemy  of  God  and  man  upon  the  Christian  Church  and  religion  in 
Europe,  by  the  agency  of  Voltaire  and  his  host  of  followers,  which 
led  to  the  French  Revolution  with  all  its  horrors.  It  is  not  won- 
derful that  the  same  great  foe  and  his  active  agents  should  have 
turned  their  attention  to  the  Church  and  people  of  Virginia,  in 
their  then  most  irreligious  state,  and  made  an  effective  assault 
upon  them.  Infidelity  became  rife  in  Virginia,  perhaps  beyond 
any  other  portion  of  the  land.  The  clergy,  for  the  most  part, 
were  a  laughing-stock  or  objects  of  disgust.  Some  that  feared 
God  .and  desired  to  save  their  souls  felt  bound  to  desert  them. 
Persecution  followed,  and  that  only  increased  defection.  Infidels 
rejoiced  at  the  sight,  and  politicians  made  their  use  of  the  unhappy 
state  of  things.  The  Church  fell.  There  was  no  Episcopal  head 
to  direct  and  govern  either  clergy  or  people.  No  discipline  could 
be  exerted  over  either.  It  is  not  surprising  that  many  should 
think  it  was  deserted  of  God  as  well  as  of  man.  Such  a  view  has 
been  taken  of  it  by  some  ever  since,  and  most  diligently  and  suc- 
cessfully urged  to  our  injury.  Although  our  present  condition 
ought  to  be  sufficient  proof  that  the  Episcopal  Church  itself  is 
not  an  offence  unto  God, — while  at  one  time  it  came  under  his  dis- 
pleasure by  reason  of  the  unworthiness  of  many  of  its  ministers 
and  members, — yet  it  may  be  well  to  advert,  not  in  a  spirit  of 
retaliation  but  in  the  love  of  truth  and  justice,  to  some  facts, 
showing  that  the  Episcopal  Church  is  not  the  only  one  in  our  land 
which  has  had  its  unworthy  ministers  and  members,  and  been  of 
course  so  far  an  object  of  the  Divine  displeasure.  The  history  of 
the  whole  Christian  Church,  as  one  of  our  opponents  has  said,  is 
the  "history  of  declensions  and  revivals."  The  Baptist  Church 
in  Virginia,  which  took  the  lead  in  dissent,  and  was  the  chief 
object  of  persecution  by  the  magistrates  and  the  most  violent  and 
persevering  afterward  in  seeking  the  downfall  of  the  Establishment, 
was  the  first  to  betray  signs  of  great  declension  in  both  ministers 
and  people.  The  Rev.  Robert  Sample,  in  his  History  of  the  Bap- 
tists of  Virginia,  is  faithful  in  acknowledging  this.  He  informs  us 
that  at  an  early  period  Kentucky  and  the  Western  country  took 
off  many  of  their  ministers  in  pursuit  of  gain.  Some  of  these 
ministers  had  dishonoured  the  profession.  "With  some  few  ex- 
ceptions," he  says,  "the  declension  (among  the  people)  was  general 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  53 

throughout  the  State.  The  love  of  many  waxed  cold.  Some  of 
the  watchmen  fell,  others  stumbled,  and  many  slumbered  at  their 
posts.  Iniquity  greatly  abounded."  At  another  time  he  says, 
"  The  great  revival  had  now  subsided,  and  the  axe  was  laid  at  the 
root  of  the  tree.  Many  barren  and  fruitless  trees  were  already 
cut  down.  In  many  of  the  churches  the  number  excluded  sur- 
passed the  number  received."  Again,  he  speaks  of  the  undue 
dwelling  on  some  highly  Calvinistic  doctrines.  "Truth  is  often 
injured  by  an  unsuitable  application  of  its  parts.  Strong  meat 
should  not  be  given  but  to  men.  To  preach  the  deep,  mysterious 
doctrines  of  grace  upon  all  occasions,  and  before  all  sorts  of  people, 
is  the  sure  way  to  preach  them  out  of  the  parts."  Again,  he  says, 
in  the  same  connection,  "  Unguardedness  respecting  preachers,  in 
various  ways,  but  especially  as  to  impostors,  has  injured  the  Bap- 
tists in  many  parts,  but  in  none  more  than  on  the  Eastern  Shore. 
They  have  probably  suffered  more  by  impostors  than  any  other 
people  in  Virginia."  He  then  mentions  several  sad  instances  of 
shameful  misconduct,  adding  others  afterward.  I  am  also  com- 
pelled in  honest  truth  to  say,  that  at  a  later  period,  many  others 
coming  within  my  own  knowledge  and  observation  must  be  united 
to  the  above ;  but  I  am  also  rejoiced  to  declare,  from  the  same 
knowledge,  that  the  character  of  the  ministry  of  that  denomination 
for  piety  and  ability,  and  no  doubt  that  of  the  people  with  it,  has 
been  most  manifestly  improving  for  many  years.  I  trust  that  with 
the  acknowledged  improvement  of  our  own,  there  will  be  an  in- 
creased disposition  to  forget  all  former  animosities,  to  think  and 
speak  charitably  of  each  other,  and  only  strive  which  shall  most 
promote  the  common  cause  of  true  religion. 

Leaving  my  own  State  and  Diocese,  I  proceed  to  speak  of  some 
at  a  distance  who  have  experienced  like  declension  from  the  true 
faith  and  practice.  Col.  Byrd,  of  Virginia,  in  his  "Westover 
Manuscripts,"  concerning  a  tour  through  the  State  in  the  year 
1733,  speaking  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  of  New  England,  says, 
"  Though  these  people  may  be  ridiculed  for  some  Pharisaical  pecu- 
liarities in  their  worship  and  behaviour,  yet  they  were  very  useful 
subjects,  as  being  frugal  and  industrious,  giving  no  scandal  or  bad 
example,  at  least  by  any  open  and  public  vices.  By  which  excel- 
lent qualities  they  had  much  the  advantage  of  the  Southern  colony, 
who  thought  their  being  members  of  the  Established  Church  suffi- 
cient to  sanctify  very  loose  and  profligate  morals.  For  this  reason 
New  England  improved  much  faster  than  Virginia."  Strict,  how- 
ever, as  were  the  morals,  and  evangelical  as  were  the  doctrines,  of 


54  OLD   C&URCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

the  Pilgrim  Fathers  of  New  England,  the  time  of  declension  in 
both  came  on.  We  may  trace  the  declension  in  doctrine  to  that 
which  was  the  Mother- Church  to  many  of  them, — the  Church  of 
Scotland.  The  moralizing  system  began  there,  as  it  had  done  in 
the  English  Church.  I  remember  to  have  heard  Mr.  Balmaine — 
once  a  member  of  that  Church — often  compare  together  the  moral- 
izing and  evangelical  parties  of  his  early  days, — now  a  hundred 
years  ago.  Dr.  Blair  and  Mr.  Walker  were  the  representatives  of 
the  two  parties,  though  associate  ministers  in  the  same  church  in 
Edinburgh.  He  had  heard  them  both.  The  more  worldly  and 
fashionable  delighted  in  the  sermons  of  Dr.  Blair,  who  preached  in 
the  morning.  The  more  zealous  and  evangelical  attended  in 
greater  numbers  the  services  of  Dr.  Walker,  who  preached  in  the 
afternoon.  Dr.  Witherspoon  also,  former  President  of  Princeton 
College,  has,  in  his  work  entitled  "Characteristics,"  exercised  his 
unsurpassed  wit  as  well  as  pious  zeal  in  portraying  the  two  parties, 
— the  one,  calling  itself  the  "Moderate  Party,"  which  he  charges 
with  being  "fierce  for  moderation"  and  zealous  in  nothing  else. 
The  same  soon  began  to  exist  in  New  England.  Low  views  of  the 
qualification  for  baptism,  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  the  ministry, 
gradually  crept  in.  The  moralizing  system  took  the  place  of  the 
evangelical.  The  distinctive  principles  of  the  Gospel  were  kept 
back,  and  thus  the  way  was  prepared  for  the  Unitarian  heresy. 
The  morals  also  of  the  Church,  as  might  be  expected,  began  to 
fail.  The  labours  and  preaching  of  Edwards  and  others  and  the 
great  revival  under  them  did  much  to  arrest  the  downward  ten- 
dency ;  but  the  evil  went  on.  The  love  of  pleasure  in  the  young 
and  of  strong  drink  in  both  young  and  old  increased  in  many 
places.  Deacons  and  elders  sold  rum  by  wholesale,  and  other 
members  by  retail.  Nor  did  the  clergy  lift  up  their  voices  in 
solemn  warnings,  as  they  should  have  done,  but  very  many  freely 
used  the  intoxicating  draught.  That  aged  and  venerable  man,  the 
Rev.  Leonard  Woods,  of  Andover,  states  that  at  a  particular  pe- 
riod previous  to  the  temperance  reformation  he  was  able  to  count 
nearly  forty  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  none  of  whom  resided  at  a 
very  great  distance,  who  were  either  drunkards  or  so  far  addicted 
to  intemperate  drinking,  that  their  reputation  and  usefulness  were 
very  greatly  injured  if  not  utterly  ruined.  He  mentions  an  ordina- 
tion at  which  he  was  present,  and  at  which  he  was  pained  to  see  two 
aged  ministers  literally  drunk  and  a  third  indecently  excited  by 
strong  drink.  "These  disgusting  and  appalling  facts,"  says  this 
most  esteemed  minister  of  the  Gospel,  "I  could  wish  might  be 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  5O 

concealed.  But  they  were  made  public  by  the  guilty  persons ;  and 
I  have  thought  it  just  and  proper  to  mention  them,  in  order  to 
show  how  much  we  owe  to  a  compassionate  God  for  the  great  deli- 
verance he  hath  wrought."*  (The  Ninth  Report  of  the  Am.  Tern. 
Society,  as  quoted  in  the  Temperance  Prize  Essay,  "Bacchus,"  pp. 
79,  80 ;  edition  of  1840.)  To  this  I  add  a  testimony  of  my  own. 
About  thirty-five  or  thirty-six  years  ago,  I  devoted  some  time  to 
the  service  of  the  Colonization  Society,  forming  the  first  auxiliaries 
and  selecting  the  first  colonists  in  some  of  the  larger  cities  of  the 
Union,  North  and  South.  Of  course,  I  mingled  freely  with  minis- 
ters and  members  of  different  denominations  and  had  opportunity 
of  knowing  what  I  now  affirm, — namely,  that  many  ministers  of 
respectable  standing,  and  not  confined  to  any  one  denomination, 
were  in  the  habit  of  using  themselves  and  offering  to  others  who 
visited  them,  not  merely  at  the  hour  of  dinner,  but  long  before, 
brandy  and  other  drinks.  I  have  special  reference  to  one  large 
city,  where,  in  a  few  years,  the  evil  effects  were  seen  and  felt,  in 
the  reproach  brought  on  several  denominations  by  the  partial  if 
not  total  fall  of  some  of  their  chief  leaders.  In  proof  of  the  pre- 
valence of  such  a  ruinous  habit  I  mention  the  fact,  that  in  a  funeral 
sermon  preached  about  that  time  over  a  deceased  minister,  and 


*  In  the  life  of  Mrs.  Huntington,  recently  published,  we  have  complaints  of  de- 
fection among  the  dissenters  of  England  as  far  back  as  the  beginning  of  the  last 
century.  After  quoting  from  Bishop  Burnet  a  strong  passage  as  to  the  ignorance, 
want  of  piety  and  Scripture  knowledge  of  the  clergy  of  the  Establishment,  it  is 
added : — "No  less  mournful  utterances  came  up  from  the  bosom  of  dissent.  Hear 
its  voice  of  lament : — '  The  dissenting  interest  is  not  like  itself.  I  hardly  know  it.  It 
used  to  be  famous  for  faith,  holiness,  and  love.  I  knew  the  time  when  I  had  no 
doubt,  into  whatsoever  place  of  worship  I  went  among  dissenters,  but  that  my  heart 
would  be  warmed  and  edified.  Now  I  hear  prayers  and  sermons  which  I  neither 
relish  nor  understand.  Evangelical  truth  and  duty  are  old-fashioned  things.  One's 
ears  are  dinned  with  "reason,"  "the  great  law  of  reason,"  l(  the  eternal  law  of  reason." 
Oh  for  the  purity  of  our  fountains!'  "  When  Wesley  and  Whitefield  and  others 
began  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  its  power  and  purity,  they  found  as  little  favour  with 
the  dissenters  as  with  the  churchmen.  Dr.  Doddridge,  after  quoting  the  advice  of 
some  one  of  the  English  Church  as  to  the  best  method  of  resisting  encroaches  on 
their  flocks,  namely,  more  fervent  prayer,  holy  living,  and  evangelical  preaching, 
says,  "Let  us  of  the  dissenting  churches  go  and  do  likewise."  Seeing,  then, 
that  there  is  such  a  tendency  to  declension  in  all,  we  should  learn  to  be  charitable, 
and,  even  if  it  should  be  only  a  mote  in  our  own  eye,  compared  with  the  beam  in 
our  brother's,  be  very  careful  to  eradicate  that,  remembering  how  soon  it  may 
increase  so  as  to  obscure  our  vision.  We  speak  not  this  to  prevent  the  honest 
declaration  of  truth  and  faithful  warnings  to  churches,  as  well  as  individuals,  but 
to  put  all  on  their  guard,  not  to  assign  an  undue  portion  of  error  and  corruption  to 
any  one. 


56  OLD   CIHJRCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

published  to  the  world,  it  was  mentioned  to  his  praise,  that  such 
was  his  hospitality  that  he  never  permitted  even  a  morning  visit 
to  be  paid  him  without  offering  wine  and  other  refreshments.  How 
thankful  we  should  be  to  God  for  the  great  change  which  he  has 
caused  to  take  place  in  the  hospitalities  of  our  day !  As  for  myself, 
I  can  never  hear  without  pain  a  slighting  remark  made  by  any  one, 
especially  by  a  minister,  and  more  especially  by  one  of  our  own 
Church,  concerning  that  society  which  I  believe  God  has  raised  up 
in  our  land,  as  one  instrument  by  which  so  much  has  been  done 
for  the  diminution  of  this  great  evil. 

From  this  digression,  if  it  be  a  digression,  I  return,  and  draw 
this  article  to  a  close. 

CONCLUDING   REMARKS. 

Having  thus  presented  a  brief  sketch  of  some  of  the  most  inte- 
resting incidents  in  the  past  history  of  the  Church  of  Virginia,  let 
us  with  deep  humility  and  lively  gratitude  compare  together  our 
past  and  present  condition,  saying,  "What  hath  God  wrought!" 
Toward  the  close  of  two  hundred  years  after  its  first  establishment 
there  were  nearly  one  hundred  ministers  and  one  hundred  and 
sixty  churches,  and  then  in  seven  years  after  only  a  few  faint- 
hearted ones  serving  in  the  few  remaining  and  almost  deserted 
sanctuaries ;  now  again,  after  the  labours  of  less  than  half  a  cen- 
tury, our  hundred  ministers  are  restored  and  more  than  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy  churches  are  open  for  the  people  of  God.  For 
two  hundred  years  not  a  Bishop  ever  visited  the  diocese,  and  even 
after  one  was  sent  only  a  few  ministrations  were  performed ;  now, 
two  Bishops  have  full  employment  in  visiting  two  hundred  churches 
or  stations.  It  was  for  years  found  impracticable  to  raise  sufficient 
funds  for  the  consecration  of  one  Bishop  ;  now,  funds  are  raised  for 
the  annual  support  of  two,  independent  of  parochial  charges.  It 
was  once  proposed,  in  a  declining  state  of  the  Church,  but  in  vain, 
to  raise  funds  for  the  education  of  only  two  candidates  for  the 
ministry ;  now,  numbers  are  annually  receiving  preparatory  in- 
struction at  our  Seminary.  Formerly  we  were  entirely  dependent 
on  foreign  parts  for  our  supply  of  clergymen,  insufficient  as  to 
numbers  and  worse  as  to  character ;  now,  by  the  blessing  of  God 
on  our  Seminary,  we  are  enabled  to  send  forth  to  the  decayed 
churches  of  Greece,  or  to  the  heathen  of  Asia  and  Africa,  a  goodly 
number  of  faithful  and  zealous  missionaries  of  the  cross.  Formerly, 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  57 

and  for  at  least  a  century,  numbers  were  deserting  our  communion, 
as  that  which  had  deserted  God,  and  was  deserted  of  God ;  now, 
for  the  last  forty  years,  either  themselves  or  their  children  or  chil- 
dren's children  have  in  considerable  numbers  been  returning  to  our 
fold,  as  to  one  which  God  himself  was  keeping  and  blessing. 
Whereas  once  almost  all  men  thought  and  spoke  ill  of  our  clergy 
and  communicants  as  devoid  of  piety,  now,  only  those  who  are 
misinformed,  or  most  prejudiced,  refuse  to  acknowledge  that 
through  God's  grace  there  is  at  least  as  large  an  amount  of  true 
piety  in  both  ministers  and  people  as  is  to  be  found  in  those  of  any 
other  denomination.  Whereas  once  we  had  for  many  years  no 
Conventions  and  then  for  some  years  a  few  faint-hearted  ministers 
and  people  meeting  together,  now,  what  numbers  of  clergy  and 
laity  delight  to  assemble,  not  for  the  dry  business  of  legislation 
only,  or  for  religious  controversy,  but  chiefly  for  the  blessed  privi- 
lege of  joining  hearts  and  voices  in  the  sweet  exercises  of  God's 
word  and  worship,  and  thus  becoming  knit  together  in  love !  Thus 
graciously  hath  God  dealt  with  us.  Out  of  gratitude  to  him,  and 
that  we  may  continue  to  enjoy  his  smiles,  it  becomes  us  ever  to 
bear  in  mind  by  what  means  this  hath  been  done ;  how  our  Jacob 
arose,  when  he  was  not  only  so  small,  but  crushed  to  the  earth, 
trodden  under  foot  of  man,  after  having  been  betrayed  by  friends 
and  dishonoured  by  the  very  ministers  of  God  who  were  appointed 
to  defend  him.  In  the  character,  habits,  views,  and  history  of  the 
man  whom  God  sent  to  us  from  a  distance  to  be  our  head  and 
leader  in  this  work,  and  in  the  views  of  those,  whether  from  our 
own  State  or  elsewhere,  who  entered  into  the  service,  may  be  seen 
the  religious  principles  and  methods  of  action  by  which,  under  God, 
the  change  has  been  effected ;  and  it  need  not  be  said  how  entirely 
different  they  were  from  those  by  which  the  disgrace  and  downfall 
of  the  Church  had  been  wrought.  Of  the  efficacy  of  these  means 
we  are  the  more  convinced  from  the  peculiar  and  very  great  diffi- 
culties to  be  surmounted,  which  have  nevertheless  in  a  great  mea- 
sure been  surmounted.  We  are  persuaded  that  in  no  part  of  our 
own  land  were  there  such  strong  prejudices  and  such  violent  oppo- 
sitions to  be  overcome  as  in  Virginia,  in  consequence  of  the  former 
character  of  the  Episcopal  clergy,  and  the  long  and  bitter  strife 
which  had  existed  between  the  Church  and  those  who  had  left  its 
pale,  which  latter  were  never  satisfied  until  the  downfall  of  the 
former  was  accomplished. 

Let  me  briefly  recapitulate  the  means  used.     Bishop  Moore,  in 
his  previous  correspondence,  and  his  first  sermon  and  address, 


58  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

declared  his  determination  to  preach  as  he  had  ever  done,  when 
God  so  greatly  blessed  his  ministry,  the  glorious  doctrines  of 
grace,  instead  of  a  mere  morality,  such  as  many  of  the  English 
clergy  had  once  preached,  and  such  as  had  been  but  too  common 
in  Virginia.  The  young  clergy,  who  engaged  in  the  revival  of 
the  Church  of  Virginia,  took  the  same  resolve  and  made  the  great 
theme  of  their  preaching  "Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified,"  on  the 
ground  of  a  total  apostasy  from  God  on  the  part  of  man  which 
required  such  a  sacrifice,  as  well  as  the  renewing  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  in  order  to  ineetness  for  the  joys  of  Heaven.  But  they 
did  not  turn  this  grace  of  God  into  licentiousness  and  think  that 
either  priest  or  people  might  indulge  in  sin.  Among  the  first 
acts  of  the  earlier  Conventions,  it  was  at  once  set  forth  before  the 
world  that  the  revival  of  the  Church  was  to  be  undertaken  on 
principles  entirely  different  from  those  which  had  hitherto  pre- 
vailed, and  under  the  influence  of  which  religion  had  been  so 
much  dishonoured.  It  was  plainly  declared  that  there  was  need 
of  discipline  both  for  clergy  and  laity,  and  canons  were  provided 
for  the  exercise  of  the  same.  Not  merely  were  grosser  vices  stig- 
matized, but  what  by  some  were  considered  the  innocent  amuse- 
ments of  the  world  and  which  the  clergy  themselves  had  advo- 
cated and  practised  were  condemned  as  inconsistent  with  the 
character  of  a  Christian  professor. 

Baptism,  by  which  we  renounce  the  pomps  and  vanities  of  the 
world  as  well  as  the  sinful  lusts  of  the  flesh,  and  which  had  been 
customarily  celebrated  in  private,  directly  in  opposition  to  the 
rubric  and  often  amidst  ungodly  festivities,  was  now  sought  to  be 
performedN  only  in  the  house  of  God,  and  with  pious  sponsors 
instead  of  thoughtless  and  irreligious  ones.  Candidates  for  con- 
firmation, instead  of  being  presented  because  they  had  reached  a 
certain  age  and  could  repeat  the  Catechism,  were  told  what  a 
solemn  vow,  promise,  and  profession  they  were  about  to  make, 
and  that  it  was  none  other  than  an  immediate  introduction  with 
full  qualifications  to  the  Lord's  Supper.  Of  course  very  different 
views  of  the  Lord's  Supper  and  of  the  conduct  of  communicants 
were  inculcated,  and  the  ministers  bound,  by  express  canon,  to 
converse  with  each  one  before  admitting  for  the  first  time  to  the 
Lord's  Supper.  Thus  were  the  whole  tone  and  standard  of 
religion  changed,  to  the  dissatisfaction  and  complaint,  it  is  true, 
of  some  of  the  old  members  of  the  Church,  and  not  without  the 
condemnation  of  some  from  abroad.  In  due  time,  the  important 
measure,  requiring  that  all  who  enter  our  Convention  to  legis- 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  59 

late  for  Christians  and  Christian  ministers  should  themselves  be 
Christian  professors,  was  adopted,  though  there  were  those  at  home 
who  feared  the  attempt,  and  those  abroad  who  prophesied  evil  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  encourage  disaffection  at  home.  But  God 
was  with  us  and  has  granted  most  entire  success. 

As  to  the  manner  of  exciting  zeal  in  Christians  and  awakening 
interest  in  those  who  were  not,  it  was  thought  that  no  better 
example  could  be  followed  than  that  of  the  apostles,  who 
preached  not  only  in  the  temple  and  synagogues,  but  from  house 
to  house,  as  occasion  required  and  opportunity  offered.  As  to 
the  manner  of  preaching,  written  sermons  were  generally  pre- 
ferred in  the  pulpit,  while  extemporaneous  exhortations  were 
often  resorted  to  in  smaller  assemblies.  Without  slighting  the 
excellent  prayers  of  our  Liturgy,  there  were  many  occasions,  both 
in  private  families  and  in  social  meetings,  when  extemporaneous 
petitions  seemed  edifying  both  to  the  pastor  and  his  flock.  As  to 
the  great  benevolent  and  religious  institutions  of  the  age,  our 
ministers  felt  that  they  were  doing  well  to  encourage  their  people 
to  a  lively  participation  in  them.  The  Missionary  and  Bible 
Societies,  the  Colonization  and  Temperance  Societies,  received 
their  most  cordial  support,  and  they  considered  it  a  subject  of 
devout  thankfulness  to  God  if  their  congregations  took  a  deep 
interest  in  the  same.  To  provoke  each  other  and  their  con- 
gregations to  zeal  in  all  good  works,  and  especially  to  awaken  the 
careless  to  a  sense  of  their  lost  condition,  the  ministers  would 
meet  together  occasionally,  and  for  several  successive  days  make 
full  trial  of  prayer  and  the  word,  expecting  the  blessing  pro- 
mised to  two  or  three  who  come  together  and  ask  somewhat  of 
God. 

To  these  I  will  only  add  a  few  words  as  to  the  spirit  cherished 
and  the  course  pursued  toward  our  Christian  brethren  who  walk 
not  with  us  in  all  things  of  Church  order  and  worship.  Long  and 
bitter  was  the  strife  that  subsisted  between  them  and  our  fathers, 
violent  the  prejudices  that  raged  against  us,  and  it  would  have 
been  easy  to  enter  on  the  work  of  revival  in  the  spirit  of  retalia- 
tion and  fierce  opposition.  But  would  it  have  been  right,  and  as 
our  Master  would  have  had  us  do?  Our  forefathers  had  done 
religion  much  and  them  some  wrong.  God  made  use  of  them  for 
good.  Many  of  them  were  doubtless  most  sincere  in  their  fear 
of  us  and  opposition  to  us.  It  became  us  rather  to  win  them  over 
by  love,  and  secure  their  esteem  by  living  and  preaching  dif- 
ferently from  our  predecessors.  Such  was  the  conciliatory  course 


60  OLD   CHJJRCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

pursued  by  our  deceased  father  in  God,  and  followed  by  those 
who  perceived  the  good  effects  of  his  example,  and  most  happy 
was  the  effect  of  the  same.  But  while  we  have  reason,  at  thought 
of  our  present  by  comparison  with  our  past  condition,  to  exclaim, 
"What  hath  God  done!"  "to  thank  him  and  take  courage,"  yet 
should  we  beware  of  boasting,  or  of  supposing  that  all  is  done,  or 
that  what  remains  will  certainly  and  easily  be  done.  I  consider  it 
as  the  great  error  of  many  in  our  Church,  that  we  are  too  much 
given  to  boasting,  too  apt  to  overrate  our  own  successes,  and  cal- 
culate too  largely  on  far  greater,  while  underrating  the  present  or 
probable  future  successes  of  others.  God  will,  in  his  own  way, 
correct  us,  if  we  be  guilty  of  presumption.  Our  Jacob  is  still 
small,  and  it  becomes  us  now,  as  of  old,  to  ask,  By  whom  shall  he 
arise  ?  Much  is  yet  to  be  done,  and  there  are  many  difficulties  in 
the  way.  Though  we  have  a  goodly  number  of  ministers,  yet  there 
are  by  no  means  enough  to  carry  on  the  work  of  enlargement  as 
we  could  wish,  and  as  the  door  seems  opening  to  us.  Although 
we  have  many  churches,  yet  how  many  of  the  congregations  are 
small  and  not  rapidly  increasing,  being  still  unable  to  afford  even 
a  moderate  support  to  the  ministry !  Many  are  the  discourage- 
ments which  meet  us  in  our  efforts  to  sustain  some  of  the  old  and 
to  raise  up  new  congregations.  Among  the  most  painful  is  the 
difficulty  of  attaching  the  poor  of  this  world  to  our  communion. 
When  our  Lord  was  on  earth  he  gave,  as  one  of  the  signs  of  his 
heavenly  descent,  the  blessed  fact  that  "  to  the  poor  the  Gospel 
is  preached,"  and  "the  common  people,"  it  is  written,  "heard 
him  gladly," — "  the  multitudes  followed  him."  Such  should  be 
ouT-  constant  endeavour;  and  if,  from  the  causes  alluded  to  in  the 
past  history  of  our  Church,  one  description  of  the  poor  of  Vir- 
ginia have  been  almost  entirely  alienated  from  us,  let  us  rejoice 
to  know  that  there  is  another  description  not  less  acceptable 
in  the  sight  of  Heaven,  who,  if  we  are  kind  to  them  and  will 
take  due  pains  to  win  them  over,  may  more  easily  be  led  to  come 
under  the  faithful  preaching  of  the  word.  The  poor  servants  will, 
if  we  persevere  in  our  labours  of  love  toward  them,  and  be  to 
them  what  God's  faithful  pastors  in  every  age  have  been  to  the 
poor,  be  benefited  by  our  ministry,  and  may — if  we  will,  in  con- 
junction with  their  owners,  attend  to  them  betimes,  as  we  do  to 
our  own  children — become  regular  and  pious  members  of  our  com- 
munion. But  whether  we  think  of  the  rich  or  of  the  poor,  or 
of  those  of  any  and  every  condition  and  character  among  us, 
with  the  hope  of  converting  them  to  Christ  and  attaching  them  to 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  61 

the  communion  of  our  Church,  we  need  not  expect  much  success 
without  great  zeal  and  diligence,  such  as  was  put  forth  in  our  first 
efforts  for  its  resuscitation.  Our  State  is  not  one  of  those  whose 
population  is  rapidly  increasing,  in  which  flourishing  villages  are 
springing  up  in  every  direction  calling  for  neat  churches  to  fill  up 
the  measure  of  their  beauty  and  excellency,  and  where  the  sup- 
port of  the  ministry  is  sure,  so  that  our  Zion  must  needs  lengthen 
her  cords  and  strengthen  her  stakes.  Very  different  is  it  with  us 
now,  has  it  been  for  many  years,  and  will  it  in  all  probability  be 
for  many  years  to  come.  It  is  only  by  patient  perseverance  in 
well-doing  that  we  can  hope  to  make  advances  in  the  establish- 
ment of  our  Church.  Much  self-denial  and  enduring  of  hardship 
and  abounding  in  labours  and  itinerant  zeal  and  contentedness 
with  a  little  of  this  world's  goods,  on  the  part  of  many  of  our 
ministers,  are  indispensable  to  the  growth  of  the  Church  in  Vir- 
ginia much  beyond  her  present  attainment.  Without  these  things 
she  may,  except  in  the  towns,  continue  stationary,  or  even  retro- 
grade in  some  places,  during  years  to  come. 

To  the  foregoing  I  only  add  that  in  the  summer  of  1829  I 
was  consecrated  Assistant  Bishop  of  Virginia,  and  continued  to 
perform  the  duties  of  that  office  until,  by  the  death  of  Bishop 
Moore,  in  1841,  I  succeeded  to  the  place  which  he  occupied. 
During  all  that  time,  I  can  with  truth  say  that  not  the  slightest 
circumstance  ever  occurred  to  interrupt  for  a  moment  a  most  har- 
monious and  pleasant  relation  between  us.  Bishop  Johns  was 
consecrated  Assistant  Bishop  in  the  fall  of  1842 ;  and  I  can  as 
truly  say  that  thus  far  the  same  harmony  has  existed,  and  I  feel 
confident  that  it  will  exist  until  death  or  some  other  circumstance 
shall  dissolve  the  connection.  Such  is  the  extent  of  the  Diocese, 
and  such  was  the  difficulty  of  traversing  it,  that,  for  the  first 
twelve  or  thirteen  years,  I  was  engaged  in  visitation  during  eight 
months  of  each  year,  travelling  over  large  portions  of  it  on  horse- 
back, or  in  an  open  one-horse  carriage.  During  the  latter  period, 
six  months  suffice  for  such  duties  as  devolved  upon  me,  and  these 
could  not  possibly  be  performed  but  for  the  greatly-improved 
modes  of  conveyance.  I  need  not  add,  what  is  so  well  known, 
that  they  are  most  imperfectly  performed. 


OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 


ARTICLE  III. 

The  Parish  of  James  City. 

I  NOW  enter  upon  the  Parish  of  James  City — the  landing-place 
of  our  first  forefathers — the  seat  of  the  first  civil  and  religious  es- 
tablishment on  the  shores  of  North  America.  It  dates  its  begin- 
ning about  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago.  But  it  found  a  place 
in  the  hearts  of  pious  and  philanthropic  men  at  a  still  earlier 
period,  and  we  must  go  back  to  that  period  with  our  preparatory 
remarks.  We  are  greatly  mistaken,  if  we  suppose  that  the  mis- 
sionary spirit,  after  slumbering  from  the  early  ages,  was  aroused 
to  life  and  action  only  within  the  last  hundred  years.  Instances 
may  be  shown,  in  which  Kings  and  Queens  of  our  mother-country 
and  Church,  moved  to  it  by  the  pious  zeal  of  Bishops  and  other 
ministers,  have  commanded,  that  together  with  the  sword  and  artil- 
lery of  war,  and  the  implements  of  commerce  and  husbandry,  the 
sword  of  the  Spirit  and  the  trumpet  of  the  Gospel  should  be  sent, 
with  armies  and  navies  and  colonists,  to  the  uncivilized  nations  of 
the  earth.  I  confine  my  references  to  what  the  religious  principle 
has  done  in  behalf  of  the  Colony  of  Virginia. 

The  domestic  troubles  of  the  English  State  and  Church,  the 
controversies  with  Romanists,  Puritans,  and  other  disaffected  bodies, 
delayed  and  hindered  any  great  schemes  for  Christian  colonization 
and  missionary  enterprise,  just  as  civil  wars  prevent  foreign  ag- 
gressions and  conquests.  To  the  Rev.  Richard  Hakluyt  the  chief 
praise  is  due,  for  stirring  up  the  minds  of  Christian  statesmen  and 
people  to  the  duty  of  finding  out  barbarous  countries,  in  order  to 
their  conversion  to  the  Christian  faith.  To  his  friend,  Sir  Philip 
Sydney,  he  dedicates  his  first  collection  of  voyages  and  discoveries, 
in  1570.  In  1587,  he  republishes  Peter  Martyr's  history  of  the 
New  World,  with  a  preface,  dedicating  it  to  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 
together  with  another  work  on  Florida,  in  which  he  urges  him  to 
persevere  in  the  good  work  he  had  begun  in  Virginia.*  In  both  of 
them  he  urges  Sir  Walter  to  prosecute  the  work  from  the  only  true 

*  In  the  year  1588,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  gave  £100  for  the  propagation  of  Chris- 
tianity in  Virginia. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  6d 

motive  and  design,  the  extension  of  Christ's  religion, — "  The  glo- 
rie  of  God,  and  the  saving  of  the  soules  of  the  poor  and  blinded 
infidels."  The  numerous  volumes  collected  and  published  by  this 
laborious  and  zealous  man  on  this  subject  have  come  down  to  our 
day,  and  are  a  most  valuable  depository  of  missionary  information. 
After  holding  various  preferments,  he  settled  down  as  Prebendary 
of  Westminster,  and  continued  till  his  death,  in  1616,  to  watch  over 
the  infant  Colony  of  Virginia.  The  honour  of  being  buried  in 
Westminster  Abbey  was  conferred  on  this  man  of  a  large  soul.  It 
deserves  to  be  mentioned,  that  he  not  only  by  his  pen  and  the 
press  urged  on  the  Christian  colonization  of  Virginia,  but  sought 
and  obtained  the  honour  of  being  one  of  those  to  whom  Virginia 
was  consigned,  by  letters-patent  from  King  James,  that  he  might 
the  more  effectually  labour  for  her  welfare.  To  his  exertions  the 
expeditions  in  1603,  and  again  in  1605,  may  in  a  great  measure  be 
ascribed.  The  language  used  by  the  King,  in  the  terms  of  the 
patent  for  Virginia,  in  1606,  shows  also  the  religious  character  of 
the  movement.  One  design  was,  that  "  so  noble  a  work  may,  by 
the  Providence  of  God,  hereafter  tend  to  the  glorie  of  his  divine 
majestic,  in  propagating  of  Christian  religion  to  such  people  as  sit 
in  darkness  and  miserable  ignorance  of  the  true  knowledge  lind 
worship  of  God,  and  may  in  time  bring  the  infidels  and  savages 
(living  in  those  parts)  to  human  civility  and  quiet  government." 
Another  evidence  of  the  operation  of  the  religious  feeling  in  those 
who  first  engaged  in  the  settlement  of  Virginia  may  be  seen  in 
what  one  writes,  who  went  out  with  Weymouth  in  1605,  in  regard 
to  a  proposal  of  some  of  the  natives,  that  "  the  company  would 
push  their  discoveries  further."  It  was  declined,  he  says,  on  this 
ground: — "We  would  not  hazard  so  hopefull  a  businesse  as  this 
was,  either  for  our  private  or  particular  ends,  being  more  regardful 
of  a  public  goode,  and  promulgating  God's  holy  Church,  by  plant- 
ing Christianity,  which  was  the  interest  of  our  adventurers  as  well 
as  ours."* 

In  the  following  year,  December,  1606,  the  first  little  colony 
came  to  Virginia,  bringing  with  it  the  first  minister  of  James  City, 
the  Rev.  Robert  Hunt.  Mr.  Wingfield,  the  first  President  of  the 
Colony,  gives  the  following  account  of  his  appointment: — "For 
my  first  worke,  which  was  to  make  right  choice  of  a  spiritual  pas- 


*  In  the  instructions  of  the  King,  in  1606,  it  was  enjoined,  that  "all  persons 
should  kindly  treat  the  savages  and  heathen  people  in  these  parts,  and  use  all  pro- 
per means  to  draw  them  to  the  true  service  and  knowledge  of  God." 


64  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

tor,  I  appeal  to  my  Lord  of  Canterbury, — his  grace, — -who  gave  me 
very  gracious  audience  in  my  request.  And  the  world  knoweth 
whom  I  took  with  me,  truely  a  man,  in  my  opinion,  not  any  waie 
to  be  touched  with  the  rebellious  humour  of  a  papist  spirit,  nor 
blemished  with  the  least  suspicion  of  a  factious  schismatic."  In  a 
narrative,  kept  by  Stukeley  and  others,  it  is  written,  "  On  the  19th 
of  December,  1606,  we  set  sail  from  Blackwell,  but  by  unpros- 
perous  winds  were  kept  six  weeks  in  sight  of  England ;  all  which 
time  Mr.  Hunt,  our  preacher,  was  so  weake  and  sicke  that  few  ex- 
pected his  recovery.  Yet  allthough  we  were  but  twenty  miles  from 
his  habitation,  (the  time  we  were  in  the  Downes,)  and  notwithstand- 
ing the  stormy  weather,  nor  the  scandalous  speeches  of  some  few, 
little  better  than  atheists,  of  the  greatest  rank  among  us,  suggested 
against  him,  all  this  could  never  force  from  him  so  much  as  a 
seeming  desire  to  leave  the  businesse,  but  preferred  the  service  of 
God,  in  so  good  a  voyage,  before  any  affection  to  contest  with  his 
godless  foes,  whose  disastrous  designs,  could  they  have  prevailed, 
had  even  then  overthrown  the  businesse,  so  many  discontents  did 
there  arise,  had  he  not  only  with  the  water  of  patience  and  his 
godly  exhortations,  but  chiefly  by  his  devoted  example,  quenched 
those  flames  of  envy  and  dissention."*  It  is  very  certain,  that 
notwithstanding  the  piety  which  prompted  the  expedition,  and  the 
devotion  of  Mr.  Hunt  and  some  others  who  embarked  in  that 
vessel,  there  was  a  considerable  proportion  of  most  unworthy 
materials  on  board,  as  shown  by  their  opposition  to  Hunt  and  Cap- 
tain Smith,  two  men  who  seemed  to  know  no  fear,  but  that  of  God. 
The  future  conduct  of  the  larger  portion  of  the  Colonists,  after 
their  arrival,  too  well  established  this  fact.  The  company  in  Eng- 
land appears  to  have  apprehended  something  of  this,  from  their 
instructions,  in  which  they  say  to  the  Colonists  at  their  departure, 
that  athe  way  to  prosper  and  have  success  was  to  make  themselves 
all  of  one  mind,  for  their  own  and  their  country's  good ;  and  to 
serve  and  fear  God,  the  giver  of  all  goodness,  since  every  planta- 
tion which  he  did  not  plant  would  certainly  be  rooted  out."  Al- 
though Captain  Smith  was  appointed  one  of  the  Council  of  the 


*  The  log  church  first  erected  was  burned  down  the  following  winter,  with  many 
other  houses.  Mr.  Hunt  lost  all  his  books  and  every  thing  else  but  the  clothes  on 
his  back.  "  Yet  none  ever  saw  him  repine  at  his  loss."  "  Upon  any  alarm  he  was 
as  ready  at  defence  as  any,  and  till  he  could  not  speak  he  never  ceased  to  his  ut- 
most to  animate  us  constantly  to  persist, — whose  soul,  questionless,  is  with  God." 
— Captain  Smith's  History  of  Virginia. 


FAMILIES   OP  VIRGINIA.  65 

Company,  a  violent  opposition  was  made  to  his  having  a  seat 
on  their  arrival.  "Many,"  it  is  said  in  the  narrative  already 
quoted,  "  were  the  mischiefs  which  daily  sprung  from  their  ignorant 
yet  ambitious  spirits ;  but  the  good  doctrine  and  exhortation  of 
our  preacher,  Mr.  Hunt,  reconciled  them,  and  caused  Captain 
Smith  to  be  admitted  of  the  Council."  The  next  day,  the  Holy 
Communion  was,  for  the  first  time,  administered  in  Virginia.  The 
number  composing  the  first  congregation  at  Jamestown  was  one 
hundred  and  four  or  five.  "A  circumstance,"  says  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Anderson,  author  of  three  most  laborious  and  interesting  volumes 
on  the  Colonial  Churches,  "  is  mentioned  in  President  Wingfield's 
manuscript,  which  I  cannot  find  recorded  elsewhere,  which  shows, 
in  a  very  remarkable  manner,  the  careful  and  pious  reverence  mani- 
fested by  the  Colonists  for  the  due  celebration  of  Christ's  holy 
ordinance,  in  their  sad  extremity."  He  says  that  when  "the  com- 
mon store  of  oil,  sack,  vinegar,  and  aqua-vitae,  were  all  spent, 
saving  two  gallons  of  each,  the  sack  was  reserved  for  the  com- 
munion-table."* 


*  The  Rev.  James  S.  M.  Anderson,  of  England,  one  of  the  Queen's  Chaplains, 
has  been  for  some  years,  with  great  labour  and  research,  preparing  the  history  of 
the  Colonial  Churches.  In  a  letter  just  received,  he  informs  me  that  his  third  and 
last  volume  is  in  print.  Being  consulted  by  him,  a  few  years  since,  in  relation  to 
the  Episcopal  Church  of  Virginia,  and  receiving  his  first  two  volumes,  a  channel 
has  been  established  through  which  I  obtain  information,  on  some  points,  only  to 
be  gotten  by  those  who  have  access  to  old  documents  in  England.  The  manuscript 
of  Wingfield,  the  first  President  of  the  Colony,  from  which  some  of  the  foregoing 
extracts  are  taken,  has  been  discovered  by  his  careful  research.  I  shall  be  indebted 
to  his  volumes  for  many  passages  concerning  the  early  history  of  the  Church  of 
Virginia.  To  our  worthy  fellow-citizens,  Mr.  Conway  Robinson,  of  Richmond,  and 
Mr.  Charles  Campbell,  of  Petersburg,  both  of  whom  are  imbued  with  a  large  share 
of  antiquarian  spirit,  I  am  already  indebted  for  some  documents  which  will  be  of 
much  service  to  me  in  the  preparation  of  these  notices.  Mr.  Robinson  visited  Eng- 
land a  few  years  since,  mainly,  I  believe,  on  this  errand,  and  the  first  acquaintance 
he  formed  was  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Anderson.  Mr.  Robinson  not  only  sought  out 
and  copied  some  things  of  interest  in  the  civil  and  religious  history  of  Virginia, 
but  established  a  channel  through  which  much  else  may  be  procured,  which  would 
help  to  accomplish  a  work  much  needed  in  Virginia,  viz.:  a  full  history  of  the  Co- 
lony and  State  from  the  beginning,  consisting  of  the  most  important  parts  of  those 
numerous  documents,  some  of  which  have  never  been  published,  and  others  lie 
scattered  through  old  volumes  in  England  and  America,  but  which  are  inaccessible 
to  numbers  whose  patriotic  and  Virginian  feelings  would  delight  to  read  them. 
Such  a  work  should  be  executed  under  the  patronage  of  the  State,  as  an  accompa- 
niment to  Henning's  Statutes  at  Large,  which  is  at  present  our  best  history,  in 
connection  with  the  brief  one  by  Mr.  Campbell.  If  such  a  lover  of  antiquities  and 
go  laborious  a  workman  as  Mr.  Robinson  were  appointed  to  this  duty,  and  fur- 
nished with  sufficient  means,  and  would  undertake  it,  a  great  desideratum  would  be 

5 


66  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

In  proof  of  the  religious  character  of  Captain  Smith,  as  a  part 
of  the  history  of  James  City  Parish,  I  quote  the  following  account 
of  the  first  place  of  worship  in  the  same,  in  a  pamphlet  published 
in  1631,  by  Mr.  Smith,  some  years  after  his  History  of  Virginia, 
and  entitled,  "Advertisements  for  the  unexperienced  planters  of 
New  England,  or  elsewhere,  &c."  To  the  Rev.  Mr.  Anderson's 
labours  we  are  indebted  for  the  revival  of  this  pamphlet. 

"  Now,  because  I  have  spoken  so  much  for  the  body,  give  me  leave  to 
say  somewhat  of  the  soul ;  and  the  rather,  because  I  have  been  demanded 
by  so  many,  how  we  began  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  Virginia,  and  by  what 
authority,  what  churches  we  had,  our  order  of  service,  and  maintenance 
for  our  ministers ;  therefore  I  think  it  not  amiss  to  satisfie  their  demands, 
it  being  the  mother  of  all  our  Plantations,  entreating  pride  to  spare 
laughter,  to  understand  her  simple  beginnings  and  proceedings.  When 
I  went  first  to  Virginia,  I  well  remember,  we  did  hang  an  awning  (which 
is  an  old  sail)  to  three  or  four  trees,  to  shadow  us  from  the  sun ;  our  walls 
were  rails  of  wood,  our  seats  unhewed  trees,  till  we  cut  planks,  our  pulpit 
a  bar  of  wood  nailed  to  two  neighbouring  trees ;  in  foul  weather  we  shifted 
into  an  old  rotten  tent,  for  we  had  few  better,  and  this  came  by  way  of 
adventure  for  new.  This  was  our  church,  till  we  built  a  homely  thing 
like  a  barn,  set  upon  crotchetts,  covered  with  rafts,  sedge,  and  earth,  so 
was  also  the  walls.  The  best  of  our  houses  were  of  the  like  curiosity,  but 
the  most  part  far  much  worse  workmanship,  that  could  neither  well  defend 
wind  nor  rain,  yet  we  had  daily  Common  Prayer  morning  and  evening, 
every  Sunday  two  sermons,  and  every  three  months  the  holy  communion, 
till  our  minister  died,  (the  Rev.  Mr.  Hunt.)  But  (after  that)  our  prayers 
daily  with  an  homily  on  Sundays,  we  continued  two  or  three  years  after, 
till  more  preachers  came,  and  surely  God  did  most  mercifully  hear  us,  till 
the  continual  inundations  of  mistaking  directions,  factions,  and  numbers 
of  unprovided  libertines  near  consumed  us  all,  as  the  Israelites  in  the  wil- 
derness." "  Notwithstanding,  (he  says,)  out  of  the  relicks  of  our  mercies, 
time  and  experience  had  brought  that  country  to  a  great  happiness,  had 
they  not  so  much  doated  on  their  Tobacco,  on  whose  furnish  foundation 
there  is  small  stability."* 

Of  the  piety  of  Captain  Smith  we  have  further  evidence,  in  the 
account  given  of  the  survey  of  Virginia,  when  he  and  his  valiant 
comrades  fell  into  so  many  perils  among  the  Indians.  "  Our  order 
was  daily  to  have  prayer  with  a  psalm,  at  which  solemnity  the  poor 
savages  much  wondered."  On  Smith's  return  to  Jamestown,  not- 
withstanding all  former  opposition,  such  were  his  merits  and  such 
its  difficulties,  that  the  Council  elected  him  President  of  the  Co- 


supplied  to  all  true  Virginians  and  the  lovers  of  history  everywhere  through  the 
land. 

*  Of  the  many  evils  to  Church  and  State,  resulting  from  the  culture  and  use  of 
tobacco,  we  have  some  account  to  give  before  we  close  these  pages. 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  67 

lony ;  and  the  first  thing  done  was  to  repair  the  church,  which, 
during  his  absence  among  the  Indians,  had,  with  other  houses, 
been  destroyed  by  fire.  Characteristic,  and  evincive  of  piety  in 
him,  is  the  statement  of  it : — "Now  the  building  of  the  palace  was 
stayed  as  a  thing  needless,  and  the  church  was  repaired." 

In  what  year  the  first  minister,  Mr.  Hunt,  died,  is  not  now 
known,  but  that  there  was  a  vacancy  for  some  years  is  declared  in 
the  foregoing  passage  from  Captain  Smith's  last  pamphlet.  The 
next  was  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bucke,  who  came  over  with  Lord  De  la 
War,  in  the  year  1610.  The  many  disasters  which  had  befallen 
the  first  emigrants  to  Virginia,  so  far  from  discouraging  either  the 
statesmen  or  the  Christians  in  England,  and  causing  them  to  aban- 
don the  enterprise,  only  stirred  them  up  to  more  active  exertion. 
In  the  year  1609,  a  new  company,  called  the  London  Company, 
was  formed,  and  a  new  charter,  with  a  larger  territory  and  more 
privileges,  was  granted.  Twenty-one  of  the  peers,  including  a 
number  of  the  bishops,  and  many  of  the  first  clergy  and  mer- 
chants of  the  kingdom,  were  among  those  who  are  mentioned  in 
the  charter.  Mr.  Edwin  Sandys,  the  pupil  of  Hooker,  the  two 
brothers  John  and  Nicholas  Ferrar,  one  of  them  a  pious  divine,  and 
both  of  them  most  active  members  of  the  board  which  managed 
the  concerns  of  the  company,  are  worthy  of  special  mention.  That 
a  spirit  of  true  piety  to  God  and  love  for  the  souls  of  the  heathen 
burned  in  the  breasts  of  many  of  the  members  of  the  company, 
cannot  be  questioned.  It  is  evident  from  the  selection  of  the  Go- 
vernor, who  was  a  man  of  sincere  piety ;  and  had  his  health  been 
continued,  so  as  to  allow  of  a  longer  residence  in  America,  much 
might  have  been  expected  from  his  example  and  zeal.  The  spirit 
which  predominated  in  the  company  may  also  be  seen  in  the  minis- 
ter chosen  for  the  new  expedition,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bucke,  a  worthy 
successor  to  Mr.  Hunt,  and  from  the  sermons  preached  at  their 
embarkation.  Two  of  them  were  published,  and  are  still  extant. 
One  of  them,  the  first  ever  preached  in  England  on  such  an  occa- 
sion, was  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Crashaw,  preacher  at  the  Temple. 
"Remember,"  he  says,  "that  the  end  of  this  voyage  is  the  de- 
struction of  the  devil's  kingdom,  and  the  propagation  of  the  Gos- 
pel." After  upbraiding  those  who  were  anxious  for  acquiring 
wealth  by  voyages,  but  indifferent  to  this,  he  says,  "  But  tell  them 
of  planting  a  church,  of  saving  ten  thousand  souls,  and  they  are 
senseless  as  stones ;  they  stir  no  more  than  if  men  spoke  to  them 
of  toys  and  trifles ;  they  laugh  in  their  sleeves  at  the  silliness  of 
such  as  engage  themselves  in  such  matters."  To  Lord  De  la  War 


08  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,   AND 

himself,  who  was  present,  he  speaks  as  follows : — "And  thou,  most 
noble  Lord,  whom  God  hath  stirred  up  to  neglect  the  pleasures  of 
England,  and,  with  Abraham,  to  go  from  thy  country  and  forsake 
thy  kindred  and  thy  father's  house,  to  go  to  a  land  which  God  will 
show  thee,  give  me  leave  to  speak  the  truth.  Thy  ancestor  many 
hundred  years  ago  gained  great  honour  to  thy  house,  but  by  this 
action  thou  augmentest  it.  He  took  a  king  prisoner  in  the  field  of 
his  own  land,  but  by  the  godly  managing  of  this  business  thou 
shalt  take  the  Devil  prisoner  in  open  field  and  in  his  own  kingdom ; 
nay,  the  Gospel  which  thou  earnest  with  thee  shall  bind  him  in 
chains,  and  his  angels  in  stronger  fetters  than  iron,  and  execute 
upon  them  the  judgment  that  is  written ;  yea,  it  shall  lead  cap- 
tivity captive,  and  redeem  the  souls  of  men  from  bondage,  and 
thus  thy  glory  and  the  honour  of  thy  house  is  more  at  the  last 
than  at  the  first.  Go  forward  therefore  in  the  strength  of  the 
Lord,  and  make  mention  of  his  righteousness  only.  Looke  princi- 
pally to  religion.  You  go  to  commend  it  to  the  heathen :  then 
practise  it  yourself;  make  the  name  of  Christ  honourable,  not 
hateful  unto  them."  Another  sermon  was  preached  at  White 
Chapel,  London,  in  the  presence  of  many  honourable,  worshipful 
adventurers  and  planters  for  Virginia.  At  its  close  he  says,  "If 
it  be  God's  purpose  that  the  Gospel  shall  be  preached  through  the 
world  for  a  witness,  then  ought  ministers  to  be  careful  and  willing 
to  spread  it  abroad,  in  such  good  services  as  this  that  is  intended. 
Sure  it  is  a  great  shame  to  us  of  the  ministry,  that  can  be  better 
content  to  set  and  rest  us  here  idle,  than  undergoe  so  good  a  worke. 
Our  pretence  of  zeal  is  clear  discovered  to  be  but  hypocrisy,  when 
we  rather  choose  to  mind  unprofitable  questions  at  home,  than 
gaining  souls  abroad."  From  the  above  we  shall  see  that  the  true 
missionary  spirit,  and  missionary  sermons  and  addresses  to  those 
about  to  embark  on  some  foreign  work,  are  not  peculiar  to  our  day, 
though,  blessed  be  God,  they  are  increased  among  us.  For  some 
cause,  which  need  not  now  be  dwelt  upon,  Lord  De  la  War  did  not 
sail  until  the  following  year,  though  Mr.  Bucke  went  over  sooner, 
in  a  vessel  with  Sir  Thomas  Gates  and  Sir  George  Summers.  On 
reaching  there,  after  having  been  wrecked  themselves,  and  long 
detained  at  the  Bermuda  Islands,  they  found  the  Colony  in  a  most 
deplorable  condition,  the  greater  part  having  been  cut  off  by  the 
Indians,  and  the  remainder  almost  in  a  state  of  starvation.*  On 

*  When  Captain  Smith  left  the  Colony,  driven  away  by  ill-usage,  there  were  five 
hundred  persons  in  it.     When  Lord  De  la  War  reached  it,  six  months  after,  there 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  69 

landing,  the  first  place  visited  by  Gates  was  the  ruined  and  unfre- 
quented church.  "  He  caused  the  bell  to  be  rung,  and  such  as 
were  able  to  crawl  out  of  their  miserable  dwellings  repaired  thither, 
that  they  might  join  in  the  zealous  and  sorrowful  prayer  of  their 
faithful  minister,  who  pleaded  in  that  solemn  hour  for  his  afflicted 
brethren  and  himself,  before  the  Lord  their  God."  After  a  few 
days,  the  provisions  being  nearly  out,  the  whole  Colony  embarked 
for  Newfoundland,  "  none  dropping  a  tear,  because  none  had  en- 
joyed one  day  of  happiness."  "When  this  departure  of  Sir  Tho- 
mas Gates,  full  sore  against  his  heart,  was  put  in  execution,"  says 
Mr.  Crashaw,  "  and  every  man  aboard,  their  ordnance  and  armour 
buried,  and  not  an  English  soul  left  in  Jamestown,  and  giving,  by 
their  peal  of  shot,  their  last  and  woeful  farewell  to  that  pleasant 
land,  were  now  with  sorrowful  hearts  going  down  the  river, — be- 
hold the  hand  of  Heaven  from  above,  at  the  very  instant,  sent  in 
the  Right  Honourable  De  la  War  to  meet  them  at  the  river's 
mouth,  with  provision  and  comforts  of  all  kind,  who,  if  he  had 
staid  but  two  tydes  longer,  had  come  into  Virginia  and  not  found 
one  Englishman."  They  all  now  returned  to  Jamestown.  On 
landing,  Lord  De  la  War,  before  showing  any  token  or  performing 
any  act  of  authority,  fell  down  upon  his  knees,  as  Paul  upon  the 
sea-shore,  and  in  presence  of  all  the  people  made  a  long  and  silent 
prayer  to  himself.  After  which  he  arose,  and,  going  in  procession 
to  the  church,  heard  a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bucke ;  at  the  close 
of  which  he  displayed  his  credentials  to  the  congregation,  and  ad- 
dressed them  in  a  few  words  of  admonition  and  encouragement. 
The  author  from  whom  the  above  statement  is  taken,  and  who  was 
Secretary  and  Recorder  of  the  Colony,  (Strachy,  who  wrote  a 
narrative  of  all  the  proceedings  of  the  same,)  gives  us  the  following 
sketch  of  the  church,  which  he  says  the  Governor  had  given  order 
at  once  to  be  repaired: — 

"  It  is  in  length  threescore  foot,  in  breadth  twenty-four,  and  shall  have 
chancel  in  it  of  cedar,  a  communion-table  of  black  walnut,  and  all  the 


were  only  sixty  remaining,  in  a  most  wretched  condition,  famine  and  the  natives  hav- 
ing destroyed  the  rest.  It  was  always  afterward  called  "the  starving- time."  Truly 
was  it  said  of  this  Colony  at  this  and  other  periods,  that  "it  grew  up  in  misery." 
One  of  the  historians  of  that  day,  Dr.  Simons,  assures  us,  that  "so  great  was  our 
famine,  that  a  salvage  (savage  or  Indian)  we  slew  and  buried,  the  poorer  sort  took 
him  up  again  and  eat  him,  and  so  did  divers  one  another,  boiled  and  stewed  with 
roots  and  herbs.  And  one  of  the  rest  did  kill  his  wife,  powdered  her,  and  had  eaten 
part  of  her  before  it  was  known,  for  which  he  was  executed,  as  he  well  deserved  " 


70  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

pews  of  cedar,  with  fair  broad  windows,  to  shut  and  open,  (as  the  weather 
shall  occasion,)  of  the  same  wood,  a  pulpit  of  the  same,  with  a  Font 
hewn  below,  like  a  canoe,  with  two  bells  at  the  west  end.  It  is  so  caste, 
as  it  be  very  light  within,  and  the  Lord-Governor  and  Captain-General 
doth  cause  it  to  be  kept  passing  sweet,  and  trimmed  up  with  divers  flowers, 
with  a  sexton  belonging  to  it;  and  in  it  every  Sunday  we  have  sermons 
twice  a  day,  and  every  Thursday  a  sermon,  having  true  preachers,  which 
take  their  weekly  turns ;  and  every  morning,  at  the  ringing  of  the  bell 
about  ten  o'clock,  each  man  addresseth  himself  to  prayers,  and  so  at  four 
o'clock  before  supper.*  Every  Sunday,  when  the  Lord-Governor  and 
Captain-General  goeth  to  Church,  he  is  accompanied  by  all  the  counsel- 
lors, captains,  other  officers,  and  all  the  gentlemen,  with  a  guard  of  Hal- 
berdiers in  his  Lordship's  livery,  (fair  red  cloakes,)  to  the  number  of  fifty, 
on  each  side,  and  behind  him.  His  Lordship  hath  his  seat  in  the  Quoir, 
in  a  great  velvet  chair,  with  a  cloth,  with  a  velvet  cushion  spread  before 
him,  on  which  he  kneeleth,  and  on  each  side  sit  the  council,  captains,  and 
officers,  each  in  their  place,  and  when  he  returneth  home  again,  he  is 
waited  on  to  his  house  in  the  same  manner." 

In  the  foregoing,  it  is  said  that  there  were  true  preachers,  who 
took  their  weekly  turns,  which  shows  that  there  were  more  than 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Bucke  in  the  Colony  at  this  time ;  and  we  do  read 
of  a  most  venerable  old  man,  by  the  name  of  Glover,  who  came 
over  with  Sir  Thomas  Gates,  upon  his  second  return  to  Virginia, 
and  who  was  doubtless  one  of  the  true  preachers  (perhaps  it 
should  read  two)  spoken  of  above.  In  the  account  of  the  decora- 
tions of  the  church  under  Lord  De  la  War,  and  the  pomp  and  cir- 
cumstance of  his  own  attendance  at  church,  the  reader  will  not 
fail  to  perceive  some  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  Laudian  school. 
That  school  was  not  very  far  off,  in  our  Mother-Church,  at  this 
time.  Some  of  those  concerned  in  promoting  and  preparing  this 
expedition  of  Lord  De  la  War  were,  I  doubt  not,  somewhat 
inclined  to  it.  The  secretary,  Strachy,  who  has  given  this 
account,  was,  it  is  believed,  the  person  who  had  much  to  do  in 
drawing  up  the  code  of  "Laws,  moral,  martial,  and  divine,"  which 
is  so  much  tinctured  with  Romish  and  martial  discipline,  and 
which  has  ever  been  the  reproach  of  the  Church  and  State  of  Vir- 
ginia, though  its  penalties  were  so  seldom  enforced,  and  the  worst 
of  them  were  soon  abolished.  One,  at  least,  of  those  excellent 
men,  "the  Ferrars,"  was  somewhat  inclined  to  a  monkish  religion. 
This,  however,  is  the  only  instance  in  which  such  decorations  and 
pomp  are  mentioned  in  the  history  of  Virginia.  Only  a  few  years 
after  this,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Whittaker  speaks  of  the  simplicity  of  our 


*  They  were  then  all  living  together,  in  one  small  place,  with  little  work  to  do. 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  71 

worship  and  liberality  of  our  discipline  in  the  following  words  :— 
"  But  I  much  more  muse,  that  so  few  of  our  English  ministers 
that  were  so  hot  against  the  surplice  and  subscription  come 
hither,  where  neither  of  them  are  spoken  of." 

Having  alluded  to  the  Ferrars,  the  two  brothers,  as  zealous  and 
active  friends  of  the  Colony,  and  especially  labouring  for  its 
religious  condition,  it  is  due  not  only  to  them,  but  to  the  whole 
family,  to  add  a  few  more  words.  The  father  was  a  wealthy 
merchant  in  London,  and  a  promoter  of  all  the  good  works  in 
which  the  sons  were  engaged.  The  mother  was  also  lite-minded. 
The  two  sons,  John  and  Nicholas,  were  highly-educated  and 
talented  men,  labouring  zealously,  as  members  of  the  London 
Company,  until  it  was  dissolved  by  the  tyranny  and  covetousness 
of  King  James,  by  a  kind  of  Star  Chamber  operation,  in  the  year 
1624,  the  year  before  his  death.  John,  the  elder,  then  entered 
into  the  House  of  Commons,  and  sought  to  promote  the  best 
interests  of  the  Colony  in  that  place.  Nicholas,  after  debating 
the  question  whether  he  should  remove  to  Virginia  and  seek  her 
welfare  here  on  the  spot,  or  devote  himself  to  the  ministry  at 
home,  determined  on  the  latter.  In  the  words  of  Mr.  Ander- 
son, who  duly  appreciated  his  worth,  I  make  the  following 
statement : — 

"  In  1626,  Ferrar  was  ordained  by  Laud,  then  Bishop  of  St.  David's. 
From  that  period,  to  the  time  of  his  death,  which  took  place  in  1637,  he 
gave  himself  up  to  those  duties,  with  an  ardour  and  steadfastness  of  devo- 
tion which  the  world  has  never  seen  surpassed.  It  forms  no  part  of  the 
present  history,  to  relate  the  particulars  of  the  economy  which  he  then 
established  in  his  house,  and  in  the  church;  still  less  can  it  be  required 
to  enter  into  any  explanation  of  the  personal  austerities  exercised  by 
himself  and  the  members  of  his  family — austerities  not  exceeded,  as  his 
biographer  justly  observes,  by  the  severest  orders  of  monastic  institutions. 
It  is  clear  that  such  rigorous  observances  were  not  required  by  that 
branch  of  the  Church  Catholic  of  which  Ferrar  was  an  ordained  minister, 
and  the  exaction  of  them  on  his  part  may,  therefore,  have  justly  been  dis- 
approved of  by  many  who  loved  and  snared  the  piety  which  prompted 
them.  There  is  reason  also  to  think  that  his  own  life  was  shortened  by 
the  hardships  of  fast  and  vigil  which  he  endured." 

As  it  is  well  known  that  such  a  type  of  personal  religion  is 
often  accompanied  by  an  excessive  regard  to  the  ceremonial,  the 
pomp  and  show  of  public  worship,  decoration  of  churches,  &c., 
we  may  thus  account  for  the  fact  that  Lord  De  la  War,  who  may 
have  sympathized  with  the  rising  school  of  Laud,  in  England, 
introduced  some  parade,  which  had  never  been  before,  and,  as  we 


T2  OLD   GHUBCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

believe,  never  was  afterward  seen  in  the  Colony.  In  connection 
with  this,  we  add  that  when  George  Herbert,  a  brother  in  soul  to 
Nicholas  Ferrar,  was  about  to  die,  he  sent  some  poems  to  Ferrar, 
which  were  published,  and  which  showed  how  he  sympathized 
with  him,  in  his  hopes  from  America.  The  two  following  lines 
are  evincive  of  this  : — 

"  Religion  stands  tiptoe  in  our  land, 
Ready  to  pass  to  the  American  strand." 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  73 


ARTICLE  IV. 

The  Parish  of  James  City.— No.  2. 

As  it  is  an  important  object  with  the  writer  to  furnish  proofs 
of  the  benevolent  and  religious  spirit  which  actuated  the  friends 
and  patrons  of  the  Colony,  before  proceeding  with  our  narrative 
we  invite  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  the  two  following  docu- 
ments. The  first  was  written  in  the  year  1612,  and  may  be  found 
in  a  pamphlet  entitled  "The  New  Life  of  Virginia,"  and  shows  the 
spirit  of  the  author  toward  the  Indians. 

"And  for  the  poor  Indians,  what  shall  I  say?  but  God,  that  hath  many 
ways  showed  mercy  to  you,  make  you  show  mercy  to  them  and  theirs,  and 
howsoever  they  may  seem  unto  yon  so  intolerably  wicked  and  rooted  in 
mischief  that  they  cannot  be  moved,  yet  consider  rightly  and  be  not  dis- 
couraged. They  are  no  worse  than  the  nature  of  Gentiles,  and  even  of 
those  Gentiles  so  heinously  decyphered  by  St.  Paul,  to  be  full  of  wickedness, 
haters  of  God,  doers  of  wrong,  such  as  could  never  be  appeased,  and  yet 
himself  did  live  to  see  that  by  the  fruits  of  his  own  labours  many  thou- 
sands even  of  them  became  true  believing  Christians,  and  of  whose  race 
and  offspring  consisteth  (well-near)  the  whole  Church  of  God  at  this  day. 
This  is  the  work  that  we  first  intended,  and  have  published  to  the  world, 
to  be  chief  in  our  thoughts,  to  bring  those  Infidel  people  from  the  worship 
of  Devils  to  the  service  of  God.  And  this  is  the  knot  that  you  must 
untie  or  cut  asunder,  before  you  can  conquer  those  sundrie  impediments 
that  will  surely  hinder  all  other  proceedings,  if  this  be  not  first  pre- 
ferred. 

"Take  their  children  and  train  them  up  with  gentleness,  teach  them 
our  English  tongue  and  the  principles  of  religion.  Win  the  elder  sort 
by  wisdom  and  discretion ;  make  them  equal  to  you  English  in  case  of 
protection,  wealth,  and  habitation,  doing  justice  on  such  as  shall  do  them 
wrong.  Weapons  of  war  are  needful,  I  grant,  but  for  defence  only, 
and  only  in  this  case.  If  you  seek  to  gain  this  victory  upon  them  by 
stratagems  of  war,  you  shall  utterly  lose  it,  and  never  come  near  it,  but 
shall  make  your  names  odious  to  all  their  posterity.  Instead  of  iron  and 
steel,  you  must  have  patience  and  humanity,  to  manage  their  crooked 
nature  to  your  form  of  civility ;  for  as  our  proverb  is,  '  Look,  how  you 
win  them  so  you  must  wear  them  ?  if  by  way  of  peace  and  gentleness, 
then  shall  you  always  bring  them  in  love  to  youwards,  and  in  peace  with 
your  English  people,  and,  by  proceeding  in  that  way,  shall  open  the 
springs  of  earthly  benefits  to  them  both,  and  of  safety  to  yourselves." 


7-i  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

The  following  extracts  are  from  "A  Prayer  for  the  Morning 
and  Evening  Use  of  the  Watch  or  Guard,  to  be  offered  up  either 
by  the  Captain  himself,  or  some  one  of  his  principal  men  or 
officers."  It  was  probably  prepared  by  Mr.  Crashaw,  and  sent 
out  with  Mr.  Whittaker.  It  furnishes  a  just  view  of  the  religion 
of  that  day, — at  any  rate,  of  those  who  were  engaged  in  this  enter- 
prise. It  is  also  a  fair  specimen  of  the  theology  and  devotion 
of  the  English  Reformers.  While  it  is  in  faithful  keeping  with 
the  prayers  of  our  Common  Prayer  Book,  it  shows  that  our  fore- 
fathers did  not  object  to,  but  freely  used,  other  prayers  besides 
those  in  the  Prayer  Book.  The  reader  is  requested  not  to  pass 
over  it,  but  to  read  it  in  a  prayerful  spirit : — 

"  Merciful  Father,  and  Lord  of  Heaven  and  Earth,  we  come  before 
thy  presence  to  worship  thee,  in  calling  upon  thy  name,  and  giving 
thanks  unto  thee.  And  though  our  duties  and  our  very  necessities  call 
us  hereunto,  yet  we  confess  our  hearts  to  be  so  dull  and  untoward,  that 
unless  thou  be  merciful  to  us  to  teach  us  how  to  pray,  we  shall  not  please 
thee,  nor  profit  ourselves  in  these  duties. 

"  We,  therefore,  most  humbly  beseech  thee  to  raise  up  our  hearts  with 
thy  good  Spirit,  and  so  to  dispose  us  to  prayer,  that  with  true  fervour  of 
heart,  feeling  of  our  wants,  humbleness  of  mind,  and  faith  in  thy  gracious 
promises,  we  may  present  our  suits  acceptably  unto  thee  by  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 

"And  now,  0  blessed  Lord,  we  are  desirous  to  come  unto  thee,  how 
wretched  soever  in  ourselves ;  yea,  our  very  wretchedness  sends  us  unto 
thee,  with  whom  the  fatherless  and  he  that  hath  no  helper  findeth  mercy. 
We  come  to  thee  in  thy  Son's  name,  not  daring  to  come  in  our  own. 
In  his  name  that  cares  for  us  we  come  to  thee,  in  his  mediation  whom 
thou  hast  sent.  In  him,  0  Father,  in  whom  thou  hast  professed  thyself 
to  be  well  pleased,  we  come  unto  thee,  and  do  most  humbly  beseech  thee 
to  pity  us,  and  to  save  us  for  thy  mercies'  sake  in  him. 

"0  Lord,  our  God,  our  sins  have  not  outbidden  that  blood  of  thy 
Holy  Son  which  speaks  for  our  pardon,  nor  can  they  be  so  infinite  as  thou 
art  in  thy  mercies ;  and  our  hearts,  0  God  !  (thou  seest  them,)  our 
hearts  are  desirous  to  have  peace  with  thee,  and  war  with  our  lusts,  and 
wish  that  they  could  melt  before  thee,  and  be  dissolved  into  godly 
mourning,  for  all  that  filth  that  hath  gone  through  them  and  defiled 
them. 

"OLord!  0  Lord  our  God!  thou  hast  dearly  bought  us  for  thine 
own  self :  give  us  so  honest  hearts  as  may  be  glad  to  yield  the  possession 
of  thine  own,  and  be  thou  so  gracious,  as  yet  to  take  them  up,  though  we 
have  desperately  held  thee  out  of  them  in  time  past;  and  dwell  in  us  and 
reign  in  us  by  thy  Spirit,  that  we  may  be  sure  to  reign  with  thee  in  thy 
glorious  kingdom,  according  to  thy  promise,  through  him  that  hath  pur- 
chased that  inheritance  for  all  that  trust  in  him. 

"And  now,  0  Lord  of  mercy!  0  Father  of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh! 
look  in  mercy  upon  the  Gentiles  who  yet  know  thee  not !  And  seeing 
thou  hast  honoured  us  to  choose  us  out  to  bear  thy  name  unto  the  Gen- 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  75 

tiles,  we  therefore  beseech  thee  to  bless  us,  and  this  our  plantation,  which 
we  and  our  nation  have  begun  in  thy  fear,  and  for  thy  glory.  We  know, 
0  Lord !  we  have  the  Devil  and  all  the  gates  of  Hell  against  us ;  but 
if  thou,  0  Lord,  be  on  our  side,  we  care  not  who  be  against  us !  Oh, 
therefore  vouchsafe  to  be  our  God,  and  let  us  be  a  part  and  portion  of  thy 
people;  confirm  thy  covenant  of  grace  and  mercy  with  us,  which  thou 
hast  made  to  thy  Church  in  Christ  Jesus.  And  seeing,  Lord,  the  highest 
end  of  our  plantation  here  is  to  set  up  the  standard  and  display  the  banner 
of  Jesus  Christ  even  here  where  Satan's  throne  is,  Lord,  let  our  labour 
be  blessed  in  labouring  for  the  conversion  of  the  heathen.  And  because 
thou  usest  not  to  work  such  mighty  works  by  unholy  means,  Lord,  sanc- 
tify our  spirits,  and  give  us  holy  hearts,  that  so  we  may  be  thy  instruments 
in  this  most  glorious  work. 

"  And  whereas  we  have,  by  undertaking  this  plantation,  undergone  the 
reproofs  of  this  base  world,  insomuch  as  many  of  our  own  brethren 
laugh  us  to  scorn,  0  Lord,  we  pray  thee  fortify  us  against  this  temp- 
tation ! 

"  And  seeing  this  work  must  needs  expose  us  to  many  miseries  and  dan- 
gers of  soul  and  body  by  land  and  sea,  0  Lord !  we  earnestly  beseech  thee 
to  receive  us  into  thy  favour  and  protection,  defend  us  from  the  delusions 
of  the  Devil,  the  malice  of  the  heathen,  the  invasions  of  our  enemies, 
and  mutinies  and  dissensions  of  our  own  people.  Knit  our  hearts  alto- 
gether in  faith  and  fear  of  thee,  and  love  one  to  another;  give  us  patience, 
wisdom,  and  constancy  to  go  on  through  all  difficulties  and  temptations, 
till  this  blessed  work  be  accomplished  for  the  honour  of  thy  name  and 
glory  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ ! 

"  And  here,  0  Lord !  we  do  upon  the  knees  of  our  hearts  offer  thee 
the  sacrifice  of  praise  and  thanksgiving  for  that  thou  hast  moved  our  hearts 
to  undertake  the  performance  of  this  blessed  work  with  the  hazard  of  our 
person,  and  hast  moved  the  hearts  of  so  many  hundreds  of  our  nation  to 
assist  it  with  means  and  provision,  and  with  their  holy  prayers.  Lord, 
look  mercifully  upon  them  all,  and  for  that  portion  of  their  substance 
which  they  willingly  offer  for  thy  honour  and  service  in  this  action,  re- 
compense it  to  them  and  theirs,  and  reward  it  sevenfold  into  their  bosoms, 
with  better  blessings.  Lord,  bless  England,  our  sweet  native  country ! 
save  it  from  Popery,  this  land  from  heathenism,  and  both  from  Atheism. 
And,  Lord,  hear  their  prayers  for  us,  and  us  for  them,  and  Christ  Jesus, 
our  glorious  Mediator,  for  us  all.  Amen  \" 

We  now  proceed  with  the  history. 

The  services  of  Lord  De  la  War  were  of  short  duration,  being 
obliged  to  return  to  England  •  early  in  1611,  by  reason  of  ill 
health.  Before  his  arrival  in  England,  the  Council  had  sent  Sir 
Thomas  Dale,  giving  him  the  title  of  High-Marshal  of  Virginia, 
with  a  fresh  supply  of  men  and  provisions,  and  with  the  Rev. 
Alexander  Whittaker,  between  whom  and  Sir  Thomas  there 
appears  to  have  ever  been  a  strong  attachment.  They  remained 
together  at  Jamestown  until  the  arrival  of  Sir  Thomas  Gates,  in 
the  same  year,  with  full  powers  as  Governor,  when  Sir  Thomas 
Dale,  the  High-Marshal,  by  agreement  with  the  Governor,  went 


76  OLD   CHUBCHES,   MINISTEBS,   AND 

higher  up  the  river,  with  Mr.  Whittaker  and  three  hundred  and 
fifty  men,  to  establish  two  new  positions, — one  of  them  called 
New  Bermuda,  in  what  is  now  Chesterfield  county,  in  the  angle 
formed  by  James  River  and  the  Appomattox,  and  which  after- 
ward assumed  and  still  retains  the  name  of  Bermuda  Hundred; 
the  other  was  five  or  six  miles  higher  up,  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  river,  on  what  was  called  Farrar's  Island,  though  it  was,  as 
Jamestown,  only  a  peninsula.  This  was  called  Henrico  City.  In 
both  of  them  churches  were  built,  and  small  villages  established, 
and  Mr.  Whittaker  was  the  minister  of  both,  alternately  residing 
at  each  of  them.  As  these  were  the  first  establishments  after 
Jamestown,  and  are  intimately  connected  in  their  history  with 
that  of  Jamestown,  the  governors  sometimes  residing  at  Bermuda, 
we  shall  unite  them  together  in  our  notices,  until  the  destruction 
of  Henrico  in  the  great  massacre  of  1622.  The  Rev.  Alexander 
Whittaker  was  the  son  of  that  eminent  theologian  of  Cambridge 
who  took  part  in  drawing  up  the  Lambeth  Articles  in  the  year 
1595,  and  was,  as  his  various  writings  show,  one  of  the  first  theo- 
logians and  controversialists  of  his  day.  He  was  the  friend  and 
companion  of  Hooker,  and  sympathized  with  him  in  his  doctrinal 
views.  The  son,  Alexander  Whittaker,  was  a  graduate  of  Cam- 
bridge, and  had  been  for  some  years  a  minister  in  the  North  of 
England,  beloved  and  well  supported  by  his  people,  with  a  hand- 
some inheritance  from  his  parents.  Crashaw  says,  "  that  having, 
after  many  distractions  and  combats  with  himself,  (according  to 
his  own  acknowledgment,)  settled  his  resolution  that  God  called 
him  to  Virginia,  and  therefore  he  would  go,  he  accordingly  made 
it  good,  notwithstanding  the  earnest  dissuasions  of  some  of  his 
nearest  friends,  and  the  great  discouragements  which  he  daily 
heard  of,  touching  the  business  and  country  itself."  Again,  says 
the  same,  "  He,  without  any  persuasion  but  God  and  his  own 
heart,  did  voluntarily  leave  his  warm  nest,  and,  to  the  wonder  of 
his  kindred  and  amazement  of  them  that  knew  him,  undertook 
this  hard,  but,  in  my  judgment,  heroical  resolution  to  go  to  Vir- 
ginia, and  help  to  bear  the  name  of  God  to  the  Gentiles.  Men 
may  muse  at  it,  some  may  laugh,  and  others  wonder  at  it ;  but 
well  I  know  the  reason.  God  will  be  glorified  in  his  own  works, 
and  what  he  hath  determined  to  do,  he  will  find  means  to  bring  it 
to  pass.  For  the  perfecting  of  this  blessed  work  he  hath  stirred  up 
able  and  worthy  men  to  undertake  the  manning  and  managing  of 
it."  Mr.  Whittaker  had  given  himself  to  this  work  for  three 
years,  but  at  the  end  of  that  time,  instead  of  returning  to  Eng- 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  77 

land,  as  too  many  of  the  governors  and  other  officers  did,  being 
weary  of  their  banishment,  he  preached  a  sermon  and  sent  it 
over  to  England,  exhorting  others  to  come  over  to  his  help,  and 
declaring  his  intention  to  live  and  die  in  the  work  here.  His  text 
is,  "  Cast  thy  bread  upon  the  waters,  and  thou  shalt  find  it  after 
many  days."  Pleading  for  the  nations,  he  says,  "Wherefore,  my 
brethren,  put  on  the  bowels  of  compassion,  and  let  the  lamentable 
estate  of  these  miserables  enter  into  your  consideration.  One  God 
created  us.  They  have  reasonable  souls  and  intellectual  faculties 
as  well  as  we.  We  all  have  Adam  for  our  common  parent ;  yea, 
by  nature  the  condition  of  us  both  is  all  one,  the  servants  of  sin 
and  slaves  of  the  Devil,  Oh,  remember,  I  beseech  you,  what  was 
the  state  of  England  before  the  Gospel  was  preached  in  our 
country."  The  whole  sermon  is  full  of  such  passages.  In  the 
year  1614,  after  having  spent  three  years  at  Bermuda  Hundred 
and  Henrico,  Sir  Thomas  Dale  now  removed  to  Jamestown,  and, 
as  Mr.  Anderson  affirms,  Whittaker  returned  with  him  to  that 
place.  If  so,  he  must,  either  before  or  after  Sir  Thomas's 
return  to  England  in  1616,  have  gone  back  again  to  his  old  con- 
gregations, for,  in  the  year  1617,  Governor  Argal,  who  succeeded 
Sir  Thomas  Dale,  writes  to  the  Council,  from  Bermuda  Hundred, 
begging  that  a  minister  may  be  sent  there,  as  Mr.  Whittaker  was 
drowned,  and  Mr.  Wickham  was  unable  to  administer  the  sacra- 
ments. From  this,  it  is  probable  that  Mr.  Wickham  had  been  his 
curate,  in  deacons'  orders.  I  am  aware  that  there  is  a  letter 
ascribed  to  a  Rev.  Mr.  Stockam,  and  said  to  be  dedicated  to  Mr. 
Whittaker,  at  a  later  period.  But  this  letter  of  the  Governor, 
declaring  his  death  by  drowning,  would  seem  to  be  of  higher 
authority.  Within  the  period  of  which  we  have  been  discoursing, 
and  during  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Whittaker  and  the  office  of  Dale 
as  High-Marshal,  there  occurred  some  things  in  the  Colony 
which  deserve  to  be  considered, — viz. :  the  conversion  of  Poca- 
hontas  to  the  Christian  faith,  her  baptism,  and  marriage  to  John 
Rolph.  The  places  of  her  residence,  and  of  her  baptism  and  mar- 
riage, have  been  matter  of  discussion,  and  are  not  unworthy  of  notice. 
As  to  the  place  of  her  birth  and  residence,  there  ought  to  be  no 
doubt.  Her  father,  the  great  King  Powhatan,  lived  chiefly  on 
York  River,  on  the  Gloucester  side,  some  miles  above  York. 
Here,  or  at  a  place  higher  up,  it  was  that  Captain  Smith  was 
brought  captive,  and  that  Pocahontas  saved  his  life.  From  one 
of  these  places,  she  occasionally  visited  Jamestown,  and  there 
doubtless  became  acquainted  with  Rolph,  a  young  man  of  good 


78 

family  and  education  from  England,  between  whom  and  herself  an 
attachment  was  formed.  In  the  year  1612,  Captain  Argal,  after- 
wards Governor  for  a  short  time,  went  up  the  Potomac  River  in 
quest  of  provisions,  and  finding,  accidentally,  that  Pocahontas  was 
there,  artfully  contrived  to  get  her  on  hoard  of  his  vessel,  and 
carried  her  prisoner  to  Jamestown,  in  order  by  that  means  to  get 
back  from  her  father  some  of  our  men  and  arms,  and  implements 
of  husbandry  which  he  had,  from  time  to  time,  stolen  from  the 
Colony.  But  he  did  not  succeed  in  the  effort.  At  this  time,  Sir 
Thomas  Dale  and  Mr.  Whittaker  were  up  the  river,  engaged  in 
their  duties  at  Henrico  and  Bermuda  Hundred.  It  is  most  pro- 
bable that  Pocahontas  was  carried  up  the  river  to  Sir  Thomas 
and  Mr.  Whittaker,  as  being  a  more  distant  place,  and  one  of 
greater  safety,  since  her  father  might  have  attempted  her  rescue, 
or  she  her  escape  from  Jamestown,  the  place  being  so  much  nearer 
to  Powhatan's  residence.  Certain  it  is  that,  in  the  following  year, 
Sir  Thomas  himself  went  on  the  same  errand,  up  York  River, — 
then  called  Charles  River, — in  a  vessel,  and  succeeded  in  getting 
the  prisoners  and  property  from  Powhatan.  He  took  Pocahontas 
with  him,  and  got  her  brothers  to  come  on  board  and  see  her. 
She  did  not  now  wish  to  return  to  her  father,  (for  she  was  engaged 
to  Mr.  Rolph,)  and  she  did  not  go  on  shore  to  see  him,  as  he 
might  have  forced  her  to  stay.  Sir  Thomas,  however,  on  leaving, 
caused  the  fact  of  her  engagement  to  be  made  known  to  her 
father,  who  was  quite  pleased,  and,  in  ten  days,  sent  over  his  old 
uncle,  Opachisco,  and  two  of  his  sons,  to  bear  his  consent,  and  be 
present  at  the  marriage.  It  is,  therefore,  altogether  probable 
that  the  marriage  took  place  at  Jamestown,  where  Sir  Thomas 
would  stop  to  deliver  to  Governor  Gates  an  account  of  the  suc- 
cess of  his  expedition.  From  thence,  they  no  doubt  returned  to 
Henrico,  which  was  their  residence  until  they  went  to  England, 
with  Governor  Dale,  in  1616.  This  I  think  to  be  the  true 
account,  from  an  examination  of  all  the  documents  on  the  subject. 
As  to  the  question  whether  her  baptism  was  before  or  after  mar- 
riage, there  are  some  conflicting  testimonies.  Mr.  Stith,  in  his 
History  of  Virginia,  says, — 

"All  this  while,  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  Mr.  Whittaker,  minister  of  Ber- 
muda Hundred,  and  Mr.  Rolph,  her  husband,  were  very  careful  and 
assiduous  in  instructing  Pocahontas  in  the  Christian  religion ;  and  she, 
on  her  part,  expressed  an  eager  desire  and  showed  great  capacity  for 
learning.  After  she  had  been  tutored  for  some  time,  she  openly 
renounced  the  idolatry  of  her  country,  confessed  the  faith  of  Christ,  and 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  79 

was  baptized  by  the  name  of  Rebecca.  But  her  real  name,  it  seems, 
was  originally  Matoax,  which  the  Indians  carefully  concealed  from  the 
English,  and  changed  it  to  Pocahontas,  out  of  a  superstitious  fear,  lest 
they,  by  a  knowledge  of  her  true  name,  should  be  enabled  to  do  her 
some  hurt.  She  was  the  first  Christian  Indian  in  these  parts,  and 
perhaps  the  sincerest  and  most  worthy  that  has  ever  been  since.  And 
now  she  has  no  manner  of  desire  to  return  to  her  father ;  neither  could 
she  well  endure  the  brutish  manners  or  society  of  her  own  nation.  Her 
affection  for  her  husband  was  extremely  constant  and  true;  and  he,  on 
the  other  hand,  underwent  great  torment  and  pain,  out  of  his  violent 
passion  and  tender  solicitude  for  her." 

From  the  foregoing,  we  would  infer  that  her  marriage  preceded 
her  baptism.  On  what  authority  Mr.  Stith  (who  wrote  his  work 
in  1746)  relied,  I  know  not,  but  the  following  testimony  from  Sir 
Thomas  Dale,  in  1614,  is  certainly  to  be  preferred.  In  a  letter  to 
the  Bishop  of  London,  dated  June  18,  1614,  he  thus  writes : — 

"  Powhatan's  daughter  I  caused  to  be  carefully  instructed  in  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  who,  after  she  had  made  some  good  progress  therein,  renounced 
publicly  her  country's  idolatry,  openly  confessed  her  Christian  faith,  was, 
as  she  desired,  baptized,  and  is  since  married  to  an  English  gentleman  of 
good  understanding,  (as  by  his  letter  unto  me,  containing  the  reasons  of 
his  marriage  of  her,  you  may  perceive,)  another  knot  to  bind  this  peace 
the  stronger.  Her  father  and  friends  gave  approbation  to  it,  and  her 
uncle  gave  her  to  him  in  the  Church.  She  lives  civilly  and  lovingly 
with  him,  and  I  trust  will  increase  in  goodness,  as  the  knowledge  of  God 
increaseth  in  her.  She  will  go  into  England  with  me;  and,  were  it 
but  the  gaining  of  this  one  soul,  I  will  think  my  time,  toil,  and  present 
stay  well  spent." 

According  to  this  communication  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  Sir 
Thomas  Dale,  whose  return  to  England  was  delayed  beyond  his 
wishes  or  expectation,  did,  in  the  year  1616,  carry  with  him  Mr. 
Rolph  and  his  wife.  Her  son,  Thomas  Rolph,  was  born  while  she 
was  in  England.  On  her  return,  she  suddenly  died,  at  Gravesend. 
The  husband  returned  to  this  country,  being  made  Recorder  and 
Secretary  to  the  Colony.  The  son,  after  being  educated  in  England 
by  his  uncle,  Henry  Rolph,  returned  to  America,  and  lived  at  Hen- 
rico,  where  his  parents  had  formerly  lived,  and  afterward  became 
a  person  of  fortune  and  distinction  in  the  Colony.* 

*  "He  left  behind  him  an  only  daughter,  who  was  married  to  Colonel  Robert 
Boiling,  by  whom  she  left  an  only  son,  Major  John  Boiling,  who  was  the  father 
of  Colonel  John  Boiling,  and  of  several  daughters,  one  of  whom  married  Colonel 
Richard  Randolph,  another  Colonel  Fleming,  a  third  Dr.  William  Gay,  a  fourth 
Mr.  Thomas  Eldridge,  and  the  last  Mr.  James  Murray."  To  this  statement  of 
Stith,  one  of  the  family  has  furnished  me  with  the  following  addition: — "The  son 


80  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

Concerning  the  reception  and  behaviour  of  Pocahontas  in 
London,  I  shall  only  give  the  account  which  Purchas,  the  cele- 
brated compiler  of  the  many  treatises  called  "Purchas's  Pil- 
grims," has  handed  down  to  us: — 

"  She  did  not  only  accustom  herself  to  civilitie,  but  still  carried  her- 
self as  the  daughter  of  a  King,  and  was  accordingly  respected,  not  only 
by  the  company,  (London  Company,)  which  allowed  provision  for  herself 
and  son;  but  of  divers  particular  persons  of  honour,  in  their  hopeful  zeal 
by  her  to  advance  Christianity.  I  was  present  when  my  honourable  and 
reverend  patron,  the  Lord-Bishop  of  London,  Dr.  King,  entertained  her 
with  festival,  and  state,  and  pomp,  beyond  what  I  have  seen  in  his  great 
hospitalitie  afforded  to  other  ladies.  At  her  return  towards  Virginia,  she 
came  to  Gravesend,  to  her  end  and  grave,  having  given  great  demon- 
stration of  her  Christian  sincerity,  as  the  first  fruits  of  Virginian  con- 
versions, leaving  here  a  godly  memory  and  the  hopes  of  her  resurrection, 
her  soul  aspiring  to  see  and  enjoy  presently  in  Heaven  what  here  she 
had  joyed  to  hear  and  believe  of  her  beloved  Saviour." 


of  Pocahontas,  Thomas  Rolph,  married  a  Miss  Poythress.  Their  grandson,  John 
Boiling,  married  a  Miss  Kennon,  whose  son  John  married  a  Miss  Blair,  of  Wil- 
liamsburg,  while  Richard  Randolph,  of  Curls,  fourth  in  descent  from  Pocahontas, 
married  Miss  Ann  Mcade,  sister  of  Colonel  R.  K.  Meade.  Their  daughter  married 
Mr.  William  Boiling,  of  Boiling  Hall,  Goochland  county,  each  of  them  being  fifth 
in  descent  from  Pocahontas." 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  81 


ARTICLE  V. 

The  Parish  of  James  Oity.— No.  3. 

THE  history  of  Rolph  and  Pocahontas  is  so  identified  with  that 
of  Virginia,  and  with  the  Church  of  Virginia,  that  it  deserves  more 
than  a  passing  notice.  The  account  usually  given  of  it  is  too 
often  considered  as  an  interesting  and  highly-exaggerated  romance, 
though  founded  on  the  fact  of  the  first  marriage  of  an  Englishman 
with  an  Indian.  From  an  accurate  examination  of  all  the  early 
statements  concerning  the  two  persons,  and  the  circumstances  of 
their  marriage,  we  are  persuaded  that  there  is  as  little  of  romance 
or  exaggeration  about  it  as  can  well  be.  On  the  part  of  Poca- 
hontas, she  was  the  daughter  of  the  noblest  and  most  powerful  of 
the  native  kings  of  North  America,  who  by  his  superior  wisdom 
and  talents  had  established  his  authority  over  all  the  tribes  from 
James  River  to  the  Potomac,  from  Kiquotan  or  Hampton  to  the 
falls  of  James  River,  or  what  is  now  Richmond,  with  the  exception 
of  that  on  the  Chickohomini.  We  read  of  two  of  his  sons,  and 
another  of  his  daughters,  who  also  rose  superior  to  the  rest  of  their 
race.  Of  one  of  the  sons,  Nantaquaus,  Captain  Smith  says  that 
he  was  "the  most  manliest,  comeliest,  boldest  spirit  I  ever  saw  in 
a  savage,"  and  of  his  sister,  Pocahontas,  that  she  had  "a  compas- 
sionate pitiful  heart."  The  other  daughter  Sir  Thomas  Dale  en- 
deavoured without  success  to  obtain,  with  a  view  to  another  alliance 
with  some  English  gentleman.  But  Pocahontas  was  acknowledged 
by  all  to  be  cast  in  one  of  the  first  of  nature's  moulds,  both  as  to 
person  and  character.  She  was  declared  to  be  the  "nonpareil" 
of  Captain  Smith  and  his  associates.  Nor  is  it  wonderful.  At 
the  age  of  twelve  or  thirteen,  after  using  all  her  powers  of  persua- 
sion to  obtain  the  release  of  Captain  Smith,  and  to  save  him  from 
the  sentence  of  death,  but  in  vain, — when  his  head  was  laid  upon 
the  stone,  and  her  father's  huge  club  was  uplifted  by  his  arm,  and 
ready  to  fall  on  the  head  of  the  prisoner,  she  threw  herself  upon 
him,  laying  her  head  on  his,  and  folding  her  arms  around  him, 
thus  moving  the  heart  of  her  father,  and,  as  Smith  himself  declared 
to  the  Queen,  "  hazarding  the  beating  out  of  her  own  brains  in- 
stead of  mine."  After  this,  her  interest  in  Smith  and  the  Colony 

6 


82  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

was  displayed  in  frequent  visits  to  it.  "  Jamestown  with  her  wild 
train  (of  attendants)  she  as  frequently  visited  as  her  father's  habi- 
tation," says  Smith,  in  a  letter  to  the  Queen,  and  often,  by  her 
timely  warnings,  saved  the  Colony  from  destruction.  On  one  occa- 
sion, when  Smith  and  a  number  with  him  were  in  most  imminent  dan- 
ger, she  came  along  through  the  woods  some  miles,  outstripping  those 
who  were  seeking  their  destruction:  "the  dark  night  (he  says  in 
the  same  letter)  could  not  affright  her,  but,  coming  through  the  irk- 
some woods,  with  watered  eyes  gave  me  intelligence."  "  She  was," 
he  adds,  "  the  first  Christian  of  that  nation ;  the  first  who  ever 
spake  English,  or  had  a  child  in  marriage."  Her  meeting  with 
Smith  also,  in  London,  was  very  characteristic.  It  was  unexpected 
by  her,  for  she  had  been  told  that  he  was  dead  some  years  before. 
She  was  in  the  circle  of  the  great  when  Smith  came  into  her  pre- 
sence, and  he  thought  it  prudent  and  right  to  address  her  with 
more  ceremony  and  state  than  formerly  in  America,  out  of  respect 
to  those  around.  This  distressed  her  much,  and  she  resented  it, 
and  upbraided  him  with  not  calling  her  his  child,  as  he  did  in 
America,  and  allowing  her  to  call  him  father,  as  she  used  to  do ; 
nor  could  he  convince  her  to  the  contrary,  she  declaring  that  she 
would  call  him  father.  In  relation  to  Mr.  Kolph,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  he  had  conceived  a  strong  affection  for  her,  on  account 
of  her  person,  and  deeply-interesting  qualities,  which  affection  was 
fully  returned.  There  is  extant  a  long  and  most  affecting  letter 
from  Mr.  Rolph  to  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  declaring  his  wish  and  deter- 
mination to  marry  her,  assigning  his  reasons,  describing  his  feel- 
ings, and  asking  the  Governor's  approbation.  He  seems  to  have 
been  much  concerned  and  troubled  in  mind  on  the  subject,  and 
calls  God  to  witness  the  purity  of  his  motives,  and  how  deeply  his 
conscience  had  been  engaged  in  the  decision,  and  that  not  until 
much  suffering  had  been  endured  was  the  determination  made.* 


*  The  Rev.  Peter  Fontaine,  in  a  letter  to  his  brother  in  England,  in  which  he 
advocates  intermarriage  with  the  Indians  as  a  means  of  their  pivilization  and  Chris- 
tianization,  says,  "But  this,  our  wise  politicians  at  home  put  an  effectual  stop  to  at 
the  beginning  of  our  settlement  here,  for  when  they  heard  that  Rolph  had  married 
Pocahontas,  it  was  deliberated  in  Council  whether  he  had  not  committed  high  trea- 
son by  so  doing,  that  is,  marrying  an  Indian  princess ;  and  had  not  some  troubles 
intervened,  which  put  a  stop  to  the  enquiry,  the  poor  man  might  have  been  hanged 
up  for  doing  the  most  just,  the  most  natural,  the  most  generous  and  politic  action, 
that  ever  was  done  on  this  side  of  the  water.  This  put  an  effectual  stop  to  all 
intermarriages  afterwards."  From  whence  Mr.  Fontaine  got  this  tradition  I  know 
not.  Col.  Byrd,  in  his  Westover  Manuscripts,  advocates  the  same  mode  of  convert- 
ing and  civilizing  the  natives  as  did  his  minister,  Mr.  Fontaine. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  83 

The  letter  can  only  be  understood  by  considering  the  character  and 
position  of  Mr.  Rolph.  Here  was  a  young  Englishman,  of  family, 
education,  and  reputation,  about  to  engage  himself  to  an  Indian 
girl,  of  a  different  and  despised  colour,  of  different  manners,  un- 
educated, of  a  hated  nation,  not  one  of  whom  had  ever  yet  been 
married  to  one  of  the  meanest  of  the  Colonists ;  his  children,  and 
children's  children,  to  be  regarded  as  an  inferior  race,  his  own  pros- 
pects in  life  as  to  preferment  all  blasted,  himself,  perhaps,  to  be  a 
byword  and  proverb.  Such,  doubtless,  were  his  feelings  when 
penning  this  letter. 

"  For  still  the  world  prevail'd,  and  its  dread  laugh, 
Which  scarce  the  firm  philosopher  can  scorn." 

Principle,  religious  principle,  as  well  as  pure  love  of  female  excel- 
lence, prevailed  and  was  rewarded.  Not  only  did  Sir  Thomas 
Dale  approve  and  encourage  the  alliance,  but,  after  writing  home 
most  favourably  of  it,  carried  them  with  him  to  England,  where 
they  were  most  honourably  received.  It  is  said  that  King  James 
was  even  a  little  jealous  of  them,  lest,  on  returning  to  America, 
they  might  think,  by  right  of  inheritance  from  Powhatan,  (a  far^ 
nobler  monarch  than  himself,)  to  establish  themselves  in  rule  over 
his  Virginia  territory.  This  was  only  one  of  the  vain  thoughts 
which  found  a  seat  in  that  weak  and  conceited  monarch's  mind. 
Nothing  but  good  resulted  from  the  union,  and  much  more  than  is 
seen  or  acknowledged  may  have  resulted.  Instead  of  a  race  of 
despised  semi-savages  being  the  issue  of  this  union,  Mr.  Burk,  the 
historian  of  Virginia,  after  giving  the  names  of  some  of  his  de- 
scendants, which  have  been  already  recorded,  adds: — "so  that  this 
remnant  of  the  imperial  family  of  Virginia,  which  long  ran  in  a 
single  person,  is  now  increased  and  branched  out  into  a  very  nume- 
rous progeny.  The  virtues  of  mildness  and  humanity,  so  eminently 
distinguished  in  Pocahontas,  remain  in  the  nature  of  an  inheritance 
to  her  posterity.  There  is  scarcely  a  scion  from  this  stock  which 
has  not  been  in  the  highest  degree  amiable  and  respectable."  He 
also  adds,  "that  he  is  acquainted  with  several  members  of  this 
family,  who  are  intelligent  and  even  eloquent,  and,  if  fortune  keep 
pace  with  their  merits,  should  not  despair  of  attaining  a  conspi- 
cuous and  even  exalted  station  in  the  Commonwealth."  This  was 
written  in  the  year  1804,  when  Mr.  Randolph  of  Roanoke,  one 
of  the  descendants  of  Pocahontas,  was  just  entering  upon  public 
life. 

We  are  now  approaching  a  deeply-interesting,  eventful,  and  de- 


84  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

cisive  period  in  the  history  of  the  Colony.  Until  about  the  year 
1616,  when  Sir  Thomas  Dale  returned  to  England,  Jamestown, 
Henrico,  and  Bermuda  Hundred  formed  nearly  all  of  the  Colony ; 
and  at  that  time  it  is  probable  that  Mr.  Bucke,  at  Jamestown,  and 
Mr.  Whittaker,  with  his  curate,  Wickham,  were  the  only  ministers 
of  the  Colony.  During  the  three  following  years,  infant  settle- 
ments, planted  by  Sir  Thomas  Dale  on  James  River,  and  others, 
by  his  successors,  Argal  and  Yeardley,  began  to  increase,  and  as- 
sume the  forms  of  villages,  called  Hundreds,  and  several  new  mi- 
nisters came  over.  We  ascertain  the  names  of  Stockam,  Meare, 
Hargrave,  and  Scale.  In  the  year  1619,  Yeardley,  having  visited 
Europe,  returned  with  new  instructions  and  enlarged  authority. 
He  was  directed  to  convene  the  first  legislative  body  ever  held  in 
Virginia.  Eleven  boroughs  sent  delegates,  called  Burgesses,  to  it. 
Mr.  Bucke  was  still  the  minister  at  Jamestown,  and  opened  the 
meeting  with  solemn  prayers  in  the  choir  of  the  church,  the  Go- 
vernor sitting  in  his  accustomed  place,  the  Councillors  on  each  side 
of  him,  and  the  Burgesses  around;  after  which  they  all  went 
into  the  body  of  the  church,  and  proceeded  with  the  work  of  legis- 
lation. The  laws,  martial,  moral,  and  divine,  were  now  superseded 
by  some  of  a  different  character.  The  Church  of  England  was 
more  formally  established  than  it  ever  had  been  before.  *  Now  all 
things  began  to  assume  a  more  regular  and  promising  aspect. 
More  especially  was  the  attention  of  the  Company  in  London  and 
of  pious  friends  in  England  directed  to  the  cause  of  education  in 
the  Colony.  Many  years  before  this,  King  James  had,  through 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  called  upon  the  Bishops  and  clergy 
of  England  to  take  up  collections  for  a  University  in  Virginia,  for 
the  benefit  of  both  natives  and  Colonists,  and  the  sum  of  .£1500 
had  been  raised  for  the  purpose.  Now  an  influx  of  charity  poured 
in  upon  Virginia,  especially  for  this  object.  I  have  before  me  a 
paper,  copied  from  an  English  record,  containing  a  list  of  the  fol- 
lowing donations,  during  the  years  1619-20-21 : — "  Mrs.  Mary 
Robinson,  for  a  church  in  Virginia,  .£200.  An  unknown  person, 
£20  for  communion-service,  and  other  things  for  the  same.  A 
person  unknown,  £30,  for  the  College  communion-service,  &c.  A 


*  Mr.  Henning,  in  his  Statutes  at  Large,  and  all  other  writers  on  the  early  history 
of  Virginia,  have  declared  that  no  account  of  the  acts  of  this  first  Assembly  has 
been  preserved;  but  Mr.  Conway  Robinson,  in  his  researches  among  the  public 
offices  in  England,  during  his  late  visit  to  that  country,  has  discovered  an  old  manu- 
script, of  thirty  or  forty  pages,  being  a  journal  or  report  of  its  proceedings. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  85 

person  with  the  signature  of  Dust  and  Ashes  sent  £550,  in  gold, 
to  Sir  Edward  Sandys,  for  the  instruction  of  the  natives  in  religion 
and  civility.  Nicholas  Ferrar,  £330  for  the  same,  and  ,£24  an- 
nually. An  unknown  person,  £10  for  the  Colony.  For  a  free 
school  in  Virginia,  by  persons  returning  from  the  East  Indies,  to 
be  called  the  East  India  School,  ,£70.  Ditto  for  the  same,  by  an 
unknown  person,  £30.  Ditto  by  a  person  unknown,  £25.  Ditto 
a  Bible,  Prayer  Book,  and  other  books  worth  £10."  The  Rev. 
Mr.  Hargrave  also  gave  his  library.  The  place  selected  for  the 
College  was  Henrico  City,  before  mentioned  as  settled  by  Sir  Tho- 
mas Dale  and  Mr.  Whittaker,  on  the  north  side  of  James  River, 
about  fifteen  miles  below  Richmond.  Not  less  than  15,000  acres 
of  land  were  given  as  College  lands,  and  for  purposes  connected 
with  the  Church  and  College,  between  the  settlement  and  Rich- 
mond, by  the  Company  in  England.  The  East  India  School  was 
to  be  established  at  Charles  City, — a  place  somewhere  in  what  is 
now  the  county  of  Charles  City,  and  probably  not  far  from  Hen- 
rico City.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Copland,  chaplain  of  the  East  India 
Company,  who  had  proposed  the  East  India  School  in  Virginia 
and  contributed  liberally  to  it,  was  appointed  by  the  Company  to 
be  President  of  the  College,  and  general  manager  of  all  its  pro- 
perty. The  East  India  School,  in  Charles  City,  was  to  be  a  pre- 
paratory one  to  the  College.  On  the  13th  of  April,  1622,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Copland  was  requested  by  the.  Company  to  deliver  a 
thanksgiving  sermon,  in  London,  for  all  the  late  mercies  of  God  to 
the  Colony,  and  for  the  bright  prospects  before  them  ;  but  in  about 
one  month  before  that  time,  on  the  22d  of  March,  those  prospects 
had  been  blasted  by  one  of  the  most  unexpected  and  direful  cala- 
mities which  had  ever  befallen  the  Colony.  Since  the  marriage  of 
Pocahontas  all  had  been  peace  with  the  natives.  The  Colonists 
had  settled  themselves  in  various  places  along  James  River,  from 
Kiquotan  (Hampton)  to  Henrico,  fearing  no  evil,  although  the 
dreadful  massacre  which  then  ensued  had  been  secretly  resolved 
upon  for  some  years.  On  one  and  the  same  day  the  attack  was 
made  on  every  place.  Jamestown,  and  some  few  points  near  to  it, 
alone  escaped,  having  received  warning  of  the  intended  attack 
just  in  time  to  prepare  for  defence.  Besides  the  destruction  of 
houses  by  fire,  between  three  and  four  hundred  persons  were  put 
to  death  in  the  most  cruel  manner.  Such  was  the  effect  of  this 
assault,  both  in  Virginia  and  in  England,  that  a  commission  was 
sent  over  to  the  Governor,  Sir  George  Yeardley,  to  seek  for  a  set- 
tlement on  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Virginia  for  those  who  remained. 


86  OLD   CHUtfCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

That  plan,  however,  was  never  put  in  execution,  though  steps  were 
taken  toward  it.  The  hopes  of  the  best  friends  of  the  Colony, 
and  of  the  natives,  were  now  overwhelmed.  This,  added  to  all 
preceding  conflicts  with  the  natives,  and  the  continual  defence  re- 
quired before  the  marriage  of  Pocahontas,  produced  a  change  in 
the  feelings  and  language  of  many  toward  the  natives,  which  we 
should  scarce  credit  if  the  records  of  the  same  were  not  too  well 
authenticated.  In  unison  with  the  feelings  of  the  English,  Cap- 
tain Smith,  who  was  still  alive  and  in  England,  offered  himself  as 
the  commander  of  a  company  of  young  and  valiant  soldiers,  to  be 
a  standing  army  in  Virginia,  going  in  among  the  tribes,  inflicting 
vengeance  for  the  past,  and  driving  them  out  of  their  possessions 
to  some  place  so  distant  from  our  people  as  to  render  them  harm- 
less. The  Company  itself,  hitherto  so  strong  in  its  injunction  of 
mild  measures  and  the  use  of  means  for  the  conversion  of  the  In- 
dians, now  says,  "We  condemn  their  bodies,  the  saving  of  whose 
souls  we  have  so  zealously  affected.  Root  them  out  from  being 
any  longer  a  people, — so  cursed  a  nation,  ungrateful  for  all  bene- 
fits and  incapable  of  all  goodness, — or  remove  them  so  far  as  to  be 
out  of  danger  or  fear.  War  perpetually,  without  peace  or  truce. 
Yet  spare  the  young  for  servants.  Starve  them  by  destroying 
their  corn,  or  reaping  it  for  your  own  use.  Pluck  up  their  weirs, 
(fishing-traps.)  Obstruct  their  hunting.  Employ  foreign  enemies 
against  them  at  so  much  a  head.  Keep  a  band  of  your  own  men 
continually  upon  them,  to  be  paid  by  the  Colony,  which  is  to  have 
half  of  their  captives  and  plunder.  He  that  takes  any  of  their  chiefs 
to  be  doubly  rewarded.  He  that  takes  Opochancono  (the  chief 
and  brother  of  old  Powhatan,  who  was  now  dead)  shall  have  a 
great  and  singular  reward."  At  a  somewhat  later  period,  either 
an  order  in  council  or  a  law  was  passed,  that  "  the  Indians  being 
irreconcilable  enemies,  every  commander,  on  the  least  molesta- 
tion, to  fall  upon  them." 

It  may  perhaps  seem  to  some,  that  in  giving  such  details  of  mas- 
sacre and  revenge  I  am  departing  from  that  line  of  ecclesiastical 
notices  hitherto  pursued.  A  few  words  will,  I  hope,  suffice  for  my 
justification,  and  show  that  I  have  a  sufficient  reason  for  it.  In  the  first 
fifteen  years  of  the  Colony,  it  must  be  admitted  that,  so  far  as 
the  few  ministers  who  belonged  to  it,  and  a  good  proportion  of  the 
laity  taking  part  in  it,  are  concerned,  there  is  as  large  a  share  of 
the  true  missionary  spirit  in  its  conduct  as  is  anywhere  to  be  found, 
not  excepting  any  missionary  movements  since  apostolic  days  and 
men.  But  this  massacre,  following  others  which  had  taken  place, 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  87 

and  the  little  success  attending  the  conversion  of  the  natives  in 
this  country,  or  in  England,  whither  some  had  been  sent  for  Chris- 
tian instruction,  produced  a  sad  revolution  in  public  feeling.  The 
missionary  effort  was  considered  as  a  failure;  the  conversion,  or 
even  civilization,  of  the  Indian,  was  regarded  as  hopeless.  The 
Company  began,  and  probably  continued,  to  appropriate  .£500  an- 
nually to  the  support  of  such  men  as  Hunt,  Bucke,  Clover,  Whit- 
taker,  and  other  religious  purposes ;  but  that  Company  was,  in  the 
year  1624,  dissolved  by  the  covetous  and  tyrannical  act  of  James. 
Where  now  are  to  be  found  the  considerations  sufficient  to  move 
other  such  devoted  missionaries  to  fill  up  the  ranks  made  vacant 
by  their  death  ?  The  Indians  were  now  objects  of  dread,  of  hate, 
of  persecution.  A  sentiment  and  declaration  is  ascribed  to  one  of 
the  last  of  the  ministers  who  came  over,  "that  the  only  way  to 
convert  the  Indians  was  to  cut  the  throats  of  their  chief  men  and 
priests."  It  must  also  be  acknowledged  that  the  experience  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years  has  proved  that  the  North  American 
Indian  is  the  most  unlikely  subject  for  conversion  to  our  religion 
of  all  the  savage  tribes  on  whom  the  missionary  has  bestowed  his 
labour.  Cowper  may  have  poured  out  his  soul  of  piety  and  poetry 
over  some  instance  of  conversion  among  them  : — 

"  The  wretch  that  once  sang  wildly,  laugh' d  and  danced, 
Has  wept  a  silent  flood ;  reversed  his  ways  ; 
Is  sober,  meek,  benevolent,  and  prays; 
Feeds  sparingly,  communicates  his  store ; 
And  he  that  stole  has  learn'd  to  steal  no  more." 
« 

But  how  many  of  such  have  there  been  ?  Pocahontas,  at  the  end 
of  seven  or  eight  years,  was  perhaps  the  only  trophy  of  the  mis- 
sionary labours  of  the  Virginia  Colony.  In  forming  a  judgment, 
therefore,  of  our  Mother-Church,  in  regard  to  the  ministers  sent 
forth  by,  or  issuing  from  her,  from  the  time  of  this  great  failure,  we 
must  inquire  into  the  arguments  by  which  her  clergy  could  hence- 
forth be  urged  to  come  over  to  this  Macedonia.  The  only  persons 
who  could  be  brought  under  their  pastoral  care  in  Virginia  were 
now  the  same  kind  of  rich  and  poor  who  abounded  so  much  more 
in  the  country  they  would  leave,  and  these  were  placed  under  the 
greatest  imaginable  difficulties  of  access, — scattered  at  great  dis- 
tances from  each  other,  and  along  the  margins  of  wide  rivers, 
with  scarce  a  village,  or  village  church,  to  be  seen.  To  the  present 
day,  how  great  the  impediment  this  to  the  full  trial  of  the  Gospel 
ministry !  As  to  the  salaries  and  residences  of  ministers,  we  shall 


88  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

hereafter  show  that  the  former  were  most  scanty  and  precarious, 
and  the  latter  uncomfortable.  For  a  long  time,  all  things  were 
most  unfavourable  for  usefulness  as  well  as  comfort.  Let  us  sup- 
pose that  the  present  missionaries  to  China  and  Africa  were  sent 
merely  to  minister  to  the  English  and  Americans  scattered  through 
those  lands,  no  opening  whatever  being  had  to  the  natives,  and, 
moreover,  that,  besides  much  and  painful  travelling  through  dark 
forests,  they  were  most  meagrely  supplied  with  the  means  of  sub- 
sistence, with  clothing,  and  homes,  so  that  scarce  any  of  them 
could  venture  to  assume  the  relation  of  husbands  and  fathers ;  can 
we  suppose  that  such  men  as  those  we  now  send  out  as  missionaries 
would  be  ready  to  engage  in  the  work,  when  there  are  so  many 
stations  at  home  furnishing  larger  opportunities  of  usefulness  ?  Let 
us  not,  therefore,  be  surprised,  if,  in  subsequent  notices,  we  should 
find  an  inferior  order  of  men  supplying  the  churches  of  Virginia. 
Nor  let  any  denomination  of  Christians  boast  itself  over  the 
Church  of  Virginia,  since,  under  similar  circumstances,  it  might 
not  have  done  better. 


FAMILIES  OP  VIRGINIA.  89 


ARTICLE  VI. 

The  Parish  of  James  City.— No.  4. 

HAVING  brought  the  history  of  James  City  parish,  in  its  con- 
nection with  the  few  others  then  in  existence,  to  the  time  of  the 
great  massacre,  with  some  thoughts  on  its  effects,  I  briefly  allude 
to  two  events,  occurring  soon  after,  and  calculated  to  concur  with 
it  in  having  an  injurious  influence  over  the  future  welfare  of  the 
Colony.  While  the  Company  and  the  Governors  were  endeavour- 
ing to  improve  the  condition  of  the  Colony,  by  selecting  a  hundred 
young  females,  of  good  character,  to  be  wives  to  the  labourers  on 
the  farms  in  Virginia,  King  James  had  determined  to  make  of  the 
Colony  a  Botany  Bay  for  the  wretched  convicts  in  England,  and 
ordered  one  hundred  to  be  sent  over.  The  Company  remonstrated, 
but  in  vain.  A  large  portion,  if  not  all  of  them,  were  actually 
sent.  The  influence  of  this  must  have  been  pernicious.  Whether 
it  was  continued  by  his  successors,  and  how  long,  and  to  what  ex- 
tent, I  know  not.  Shortly  after  this,  a  Dutch  vessel  brought  into 
Jamestown  the  first  cargo  of  negro  slaves  which  was  ever  cast  on 
the  shores  of  America.  While  we  must  acknowledge  that  "the 
earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  all  that  therein  is;"  that  he  has  a  right, 
and  will  exercise  it,  to  pull  down  one  kingdom  and  raise  up  an- 
other, to  dispossess  the  Indians  of  their  territories  and  give  them  to 
the  white  men  and  the  negroes  for  their  possession  ;  while  we  must 
acknowledge  that  the  advantage  of  the  African  trade,  notwith- 
standing the  cruelties  accompanying  it,  has  been  on  the  side  of 
that  people,  both  temporally  and  spiritually ;  yet  can  we  never  be 
brought  to  believe  that  the  introduction  into  and  the  multiplication 
of  slaves  in  Virginia  have  advanced  either  her  religious,  political, 
or  agricultural  interests.  On  the  contrary,  we  are  confident  that 
it  has  injured  all.  But  if  our  loss  has  redounded  to  the  benefit  of 
Africa,  by  affording  religious  advantages  to  numbers  of  her  be- 
nighted sons,  who,  in  the  providence  of  God,  have  come  hither, 
and  especially  if  it  should  be  the  means,  by  colonization  and  mis- 
sionary enterprise,  of  establishing  Christianity  in  that  dark  habi- 
tation of  cruelty,  we  must  bow  submissively  to  the  will  of  Heaven, 
and  allow  many  of  our  sister  States,  with  far  less  advantages  of 


90  OLD   CHINCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

soil,  climate,  and  navigation,  to  outstrip  us  in  numbers,  wealth,  and 
political  power.* 


*  I  have  been  for  the  last  fifty  years,  and  more  especially  for  the  last  thirty,  tra- 
velling much  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  Virginia,  making  observations  for 
myself,  conversing  with  intelligent  farmers,  politicians,  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  and 
other  Christians,  on  the  subject  referred  to  above.  I  have  been  not  a  little  over 
other  parts  of  our  land,  observing  and  conversing  on  the  same,  and  I  have  read 
much  of  what  has  been  written  about  it.  Since  the  publication,  in  another  form,  of  the 
few  brief  sentences  referred  to  in  this  note,  I  have  not  only  reconsidered  them  my- 
self, but  freely  conversed  with  many  sound-minded  persons  concerning  the  views 
there  presented  ;  and  the  result  has  been  an  increased  conviction  that  they  are  cor- 
rect, and  have  been  in  times  past,  and  still  are,  held  by  the  great  body  of  our  citi- 
zens, Christians,  and  statesmen.  There  are  some  who  seem  to  advocate  slavery  as 
though  it  were  the  only  institution  which  is  exempt  from  any  of  the  evils  incident 
to  our  fallen  humanity,  while  others  can  see  nothing  but  evil  about  it,  ignoring  the 
hand  of  a  permissive  Providence  for  good.  We  cannot  agree  with  either  of  these 
classes,  and  are  happy  to  think  that  but  few  belong  to  them.  That  the  agriculture 
of  Virginia  has  suffered  in  times  past  from  the  use  of  slaves  we  think  most  evident 
from  our  deserted  fields,  impoverished  estates,  and  emigrating  population,  by  com- 
parison with  the  condition  of  other  parts  of  our  land  less  highly  favoured  in  natu- 
ral advantages.  That  a  great  improvement  has  already  taken  place,  and  is  still 
going  on,  in  many  parts  of  the  State,  notwithstanding  this  system,  we  rejoice  to 
know  and  declare ;  and,  even  if  the  future  should  show  that  agriculture  may  be  as 
well  conducted  by  slave-labour  as  by  free,  our  remark  is  true  as  to  the  past.  That 
we  have  fallen  behind  in  our  white  population,  and  of  course  in  the  number  of  our 
delegates  to  Congress,  and  thus  in  our  political  power,  will  not  be  questioned.  That 
Virginia  lias  been  the  fruitful  nursery  of  patriots  and  orators  and  statesmen, 
whether  representing  their  own  State  or  those  to  which  they  have  emigrated,  I  re- 
joice to  believe,  and  I  acknowledge  that  the  institution  of  slavery,  by  affording 
more  leisure  and  opportunity  to  some  for  the  attainment  of  the  most  thorough  edu- 
cation, has  contributed  to  this ;  but  that  our  political  power  as  a  State  has  been 
reduced  is  a  fact  not  to  be  denied ;  and  that  this  has  resulted  from  the  preceding  facts 
— viz. :  the  wasteful  agriculture  and  consequent  emigration — must  be  admitted.  The 
effect  of  slavery  upon  our  religious  institutions  has  been  a  matter  of  remark  and 
lamentation  by  some  of  the  earliest  writers  on  Virginia,  beginning  with  the  first 
century  of  her  existence.  They  speak  of  the  large  estates  cultivated  by  slaves, 
especially  along  the  rivers,  as  preventing  the  establishment  of  villages,  churches, 
and  schools.  To  this  day  the  ministers  of  religion  deeply  feel  this  in  the  distant 
abodes  of  their  members.  That  slavery  and  its  attendant — a  supposed  disgrace 
belonging  to  labour — has  produced  in  many  of  the  sons  of  Virginia  gentlemen  idle- 
ness and  dissipation,  who  will  deny  ?  On  account  of  all  the  foregoing  accompaniments 
of  slavery,  how  long  did  our  statesmen  protest  against  the  continuance  of  the  slave- 
trade,  making  the  "inhuman  use  of  the  royal  veto"  on  an  act  prohibiting  it  one  of 
the  justifying  causes  of  the  Revolution !  And  we  all  know  that  one  of  the  first  exer- 
cises of  our  independence  was  the  entire  abolition  of  it.  But  while  thus  satisfied, 
so  far  as  Virginia  is  concerned,  that  slavery  was  attended  by  the  above-mentioned 
evils,  it  is  our  privilege,  as  Christians,  to  view  the  whole  subject  in  a  higher  and 
holier  light  and  on  a  larger  scale,  and  to  be  willing  to  suffer  some  loss  for  the  sake 
of  the  greater  good  which  Providence,  through  that  loss,  may  bestow  on  a  benighted 
portion  of  mankind.  «  The  whole  earth  is  the  Lord's,"  and  not  ours.  He  who 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  91 

That  an  unfavourable  turn  had  taken  place  in  the  affairs  of  the 
Church  of  Virginia,  by  reason  of  the  massacre  and  other  circum 


drove  out  the  Canaanites  and  gave  their  land  to  Israel  for  a  possession  has  been 
pleased  to  drive  out  the  Indians  from  Virginia  and  give  it  to  white  men  and  to  the 
most  amiable  race  of  savages  which  I  believe  exists  upon  earth,  and  which  is  far 
more  ready  to  receive  the  Gospel  than  the  ferocious  Indian.  Though  Virginia  suf- 
fered some  loss  by  the  introduction  of  the  Negro  race,  yet  her  advantages  were,  and 
still  are,  so  great  that  she  could  and  can  afford  to  lose  what  God  chooses  to  take 
in  his  own  way.  I  trust  that  God  will  still  be  gracious  to  this  race,  and,  when  it 
shall  overflow  the  first  bounds  which  were  set  for  it,  will  provide,  in  sufficient  abun- 
dance, other  and  goodlier  portions  for  her  in  our  widely-extended  territory.  I 
trust  that  he  will  give  wisdom  and  largeness  of  heart,  even  as  the  sea-shore,  to  our 
people  and  rulers  in  providing  for  this  race,  whether  in  bondage  or  in  freedom.  I 
am  no  politician  to  discuss  the  question  of  metes  and  boundaries  in  relation  to  their 
settlement.  I  do  not  plead  for  the  extension  of  territory  with  any  regard  to  the 
increase  of  wealth  or  political  power  to  their  owners  ;  but  I  do  trust  that  the  Lord 
has  a  goodly  and  large  heritage  for  them,  in  such  parts  of  this  continent  as  shall  be 
most  suitable,  and  that  our  Senators  and  delegates  may  ever  deliberate  on  this  sub- 
ject in  a  spirit  of  enlarged  Christian  philanthropy.  If  there  was  any  plan  by  which 
their  own  character  and  condition  could,  by  emancipation,  be  improved  without 
greater  injury  to  their  owners  than  good  to  themselves,  I  am  sure  that  God  in  his  own 
time  will  reveal  it  unto  us ;  but,  all  such  attempts  having  hitherto  failed,  we  should 
legislate  for  their  good,  as  people  in  bondage  and  who  may  long  continue  so.  Many  of 
them  will,  I  trust,  go  back,  with  something  better  than  civil  liberty,  to  the  land  of 
their  fathers ;  but  many  must  long  remain  in  America, — probably  to  the  end  of 
time  ;  and  cruel  would  be  the  policy  which  should  seek  to  restrict  them  to  limits  too 
narrow  for  their  comfort  or  that  of  their  owners.  Already  the  abundance  of  the 
South  and  West  is  attracting  them,  as  it  does  their  owners,  and  they  leave  many 
parts  of  Virginia  with  joy,  in  the  hope  of  a  milder  climate,  a  richer  soil,  and  am- 
pler provision  for  their  bodily  sustenance.  While  we  admit  and  maintain  that 
slavery  has  its  evils,  we  must  also  affirm  that  some  of  the  finest  traits  in  the  cha- 
racter of  man  are  to  be  found  in  active  exercise  in  connection  with  it.  The  very 
dependence  of  the  slave  upon  his  master  is  a  continual  and  effective  appeal  to  his 
justice  and  humanity,  and  the  relation  between  them  is  generally  a  very  different 
thing  from  what  it  is  believed  to  be  by  many  who  have  no  opportunity  of  forming  a 
correct  estimate  of  the  same.  If  the  evil  passions  are  sometimes  called  into  exer- 
cise, the  milder  virtues  are  much  more  frequently  drawn  forth.  If  there  be  less  of 
bodily  labour,  there  is  more  of  mental  culture,  among  those  who  are  not  obliged  to 
"hold  the  plough;"  and  thus  it  is  that  among  the  upper  classes  there  is  far  more 
of  academical  and  collegiate  education  in  Virginia  than  in  any  other  State  of  the 
Union,  and  the  whole  South  and  West  have  felt  and  do  feel  the  effect  of  it.  Nor 
as  to  religion  are  we,  as  some  have  supposed,  so  destitute,  though  we  might  have 
abounded  more  under  different  circumstances.  Irreligion,  false  doctrines,  Unita- 
rianism,  belong  neither  to  slavery  nor  freedom.  At  a  time  when  all  Christendom 
was  covered  with  slavery  of  every  degree,  the  Unitarian  heresy  prevailed  for  a  pe- 
riod in  its  greatest  extension,  and  so  did  a  swarm  of  other  false  doctrines.  That 
the  slave-holding  States  are  now  most  happily  free  from  this  and  other  pestilential 
errors,  and  have  much  of  true  piety  in  them,  must  be  acknowledged ;  and  it  were 
to  be  wished  that,  for  the  sake  of  peace  and  union,  criminations  and  recriminations 
would  cease. 


92  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

stances,  although  the  temporal  condition  of  the  Colony  and  the 
numbers  of  Colonists  soon  began  greatly  to  increase,  is  evident 
from  various  acts  of  the  Assembly,  and  from  letters  to  and  from 
England,  which  show  the  difficulty  of  procuring  such  ministers  as 
those  who  first  came  into  the  Colony.  Laws  now  seem  to  be  re- 
quired to  keep  the  ministers  from  cards,  dice,  drinking,  and  such 
like  things ;  and  even  to  constrain  them  to  preach  and  administer 
the  communion  as  often  as  was  proper, — yea,  even  to  visit  the  sick 
and  dying.  It  is  true,  the  inducements  as  to  earthly  comforts, 
which  might  help  to  bring  over  respectable  ministers,  were  very 
small.  The  Assembly,  by  various  preambles  and  acts,  declares 
that  without  better  provision  for  them  it  was  not  to  be  expected 
that  sufficient,  learned,  pious,  and  diligent  ministers  could  be  ob- 
tained, and  admits  that  some  of  a  contrary  character  did  come 
over,  while  there  were  not  enough  of  any  kind  to  do  the  work 
required.  From  that  time,  until  the  close  of  the  Colonial  esta- 
blishment, Governors,  Commissaries,  and  private  individuals,  in 
their  communications  with  the  Bishops  of  London  and  the  Arch- 
bishops of  Canterbury,  all  declare  that  such  was  the  scanty  and 
uncertain  support  of  the  clergy,  the  precarious  tenure  by  which 
livings  were  held,  that  but  few  of  the  clergy  could  support  families, 
and  therefore  respectable  ladies  would  not  marry  them.  Hence 
the  immense  number  of  unmarried,  ever-shifting  clergymen  in  the 
Colony. 

With  these  general  remarks,  we  proceed  with  the  special  history 
of  James  City  parish.  It  was  not  until  the  year  1634  that  it  could 
fairly  be  considered  a  parish.  The  settlements  were  for  some  time 
called  Plantations,  Hundreds,  Congregations,  &c. ;  but  in  1634, 
part  of  the  State  was  divided  into  eight  shires,  as  in  England. 
They  were  James  City,  Henrico,  Charles  City,  Elizabeth  City, 
Warwick  River,  Warrosquijoake,  Charles  River,  and  Accawmac. 
Of  these,  all  lay  between  York  and  James  Rivers,  and  east  of 
James  City,  except  Henrico,  Charles  City,  Accawmac,  the  latter 
being  then  all  of  what  is  now  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Virginia.  But 
in  James  City  shire  or  county,  a  number  of  small  parishes  were  at 
an  early  period  established,  for  the  convenience  of  the  people,  as 
Martin's  Hundred,  Chiskiake,  Chippoax,  Lane's  Creek,  and  Har- 
rop  parish,  which  in  time  were  lost  in  James  City  parish,  York 
Hampton,  and  Bruton  parishes.  The  first  minister  of  James 
City  parish  of  whom  we  read,  after  Mr.  Bucke,  was  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Hampton,  in  1644,  of  whom  we  know  nothing  but  the 
name,  as  no  vestry-book  or  other  document  remains  to  tell  who,  if 


FAMILIES  OF  VIRGINIA.  9b 

any,  intervened  between  him  and  Mr.  Bucke.  Nor  have  we,  for  a 
long  time  after,  any  name  of  a  minister  of  that  parish ;  but  an 
event  occurred  in  the  year  1675  or  '76,  by  which  the  church  and 
city,  and  probably  all  the  church-records,  were  destroyed,  which 
deserves  to  be  mentioned.* 

BACON'S   REBELLION. 

Jamestown  having  been  the  most  prominent  theatre  of  Bacon's 
rebellion,  and  the  greatest  sufferer  thereby, — the  place  being  de- 
stroyed by  fire, — it  becomes  us  to  take  some  brief  notice  of  it. 
Writers  on  the  subject  trace  the  beginnings  of  this  movement  to 
an  enterprise  against  the  Indians  by  Colonel  Mason  and  Captain 
Brent,  of  Stafford  county,  in  1675,  who,  on  some  cruel  murder 
committed  by  the  former,  collected  troops  and  followed  them 
over  into  Maryland,  putting  great  numbers  to  death,  bringing 
a  young  son  of  one  of  their  kings  or  chiefs  back  a  prisoner,  f 
These  wars  with  the  Indians  continuing  to  harass  those  who  lived 
on  the  frontiers  and  in  the  interior,  while  the  Governor  and  those 
living  at  or  around  Jamestown  were  quite  secure,  the  former  began 
to  complain  that  they  were  not  protected,  and  that  they  must  fol- 
low the  example  of  Mason  and  Brent,  and  take  care  of  themselves. 
Among  the  dissatisfied  was  Bacon,  a  man  of  family,  talents,  cou- 
rage, and  ambition.  After  applying  in  vain  to  Sir  William  Berke- 
ley for  a  commission  to  raise  men  for  the  purpose  of  assailing  the 
Indians,  he,  urged  by  his  own  genius  and  the  wishes  of  others, 
collected  a  considerable  troop  and  spread  terror  around  him, 
destroying  a  number  of  the  hostile  natives.  The  Governor  pro- 
claimed him  a  rebel,  but  the  people  sent  him  back  to  the  House  of 
Burgesses,  and  the  Governor  thought  it  expedient  even  to  admit 
him  into  the  Council,  where  he  had  been  before.  But  it  did  not  end 
here.  Bacon  again  raised  a  troop  and  sallied  forth  against  the 


*  The  Rev.  William  Gough  was  also  its  minister,  and  died  in  1683-4.  He  was 
buried  in  the  old  graveyard,  near  the  church,  at  Jamestown. 

f  Of  him  a  circumstance  is  related,  showing  that  there  was  not  only  religion  in 
those  days,  but  superstition  also.  The  boy  lying  for  ten  days  in  bed,  as  one  dead, 
his  eyes  and  mouth  shut  but  his  body  warm,  Captain  Brent,  who  was  a  Papist, 
said  that  he  was  bewitched,  and  that  he  had  heard  baptism  was  a  remedy  for  it,  and 
proposed  the  trial.  Colonel  Mason  answered  that  there  was  no  minister  in  many 
miles.  Captain  Brent  replied,  "Your  clerk,  Mr.  Dobson,  may  do  that  office;" 
which  was  accordingly  done  by  the  Church  of  England  Liturgy.  Colonel  Mason  and 
Captain  Brent  stood  godfathers,  and  Mrs.  Mason  godmother.  The  end  of  the 
story  is,  that  the  child,  being  eight  years  old,  soon  recovered. 


94  OLD   CHUJICHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

Indians.  Again  the  Governor  pronounced  him  a  rebel,  and  raised 
.an  army  to  subdue  him  and  his  followers.  But  Bacon,  with  an 
inferior  force,  besieged  Jamestown,  drove  out  the  Governor  and  his 
men,  and,  lest  he  should  regain  this  stronghold,  burnt  city,  church, 
and  all  to  the  ground.  The  Governor  had  twice  to  seek  refuge  on 
the  Eastern  Shore.  Whether  Bacon's  rebellion  was  a  lawful  one 
or  not,  I  leave  civilians  to  decide.  Sir  William  Berkeley  certainly 
gained  no  credit  to  himself,  either  for  his  military  talents,  or  his 
truth,  or  humanity,  for,  in  spite  of  all  his  assurances  to  the  con- 
trary, and  the  express  orders  of  the  King,  he  did,  after  the  sudden 
decease  of  Bacon,  put  to  death  a  number  of  his  followers.  For 
this,  and  other  high-handed  acts,  his  memory  is  not  dear  to  the 
lovers  of  freedom. 

Although  a  new  and  better  church,  whose  tower  still  remains, 
was  built  at  Jamestown,  yet  the  city  never  recovered  from  this 
blow.  The  middle  Plantation,  or  Williamsburg,  was  already  be- 
ginning to  rival  it,  and  by  the  beginning  of  the  next  century  the 
seat  of  government  was  removed  to  Williamsburg,  where  the  Col- 
lege, State-House,  and  Governor's  palace  quite  eclipsed  any  thing 
which  had  ever  been  seen  at  Jamestown.  The  Governor's  house, 
at  Green  Spring,  which  Sir  William  Berkeley  built,  a  few  miles  off, 
answered  for  a  time  in  place  of  the  State-House  at  Jamestown ; 
the  Council  and  Burgh  holding  their  meetings  there. 

Proceeding  now  with  the  succession  of  ministers  in  Jamestown, 
we  have  been  unable  to  ascertain  any  other  until  the  Rev.  James 
Blair,  the  Commissary,  who  came  to  this  country  in  1685,  and  set- 
tled in  Henrico,  whence,  after  remaining  until  1694,  he  removed 
to  Jamestown,  and  remained  until  1710,  preaching  there,  and  at  a 
church  eight  miles  off,  in  the  adjacent  parish,  and  then  moved  to 
Williamsburg.  Who  succeeded  him,  and  who  ministered  there 
until  the  year  1722,  I  know  not.  In  that  year  the  Rev.  William 
Le  Neve  took  charge  of  it.  He  reports  to  the  Bishop  of  London, 
in  the  year  1724,  that  the  parish  is  twenty  miles  long,  twelve  wide, 
has  seventy-eight  families  in  it,  and  usually  twenty  or  thirty  com- 
municants. He  also  preached  every  third  Sunday  at  Mulberry 
Island  parish  church,  lower  down  the  river,  where  he  had  double 
the  number  of  communicants,  and  a  larger  congregation.  The 
congregation  at  Jamestown  must  have  been  small.  There  never 
was  but  one  church  in  it ;  and  that  was  not  a  large  one.  The  seventy- 
eight  families  must  have  been  the  whole  flock  of  James  City  parish 
at  this  time.  The  salary  of  James  City  parish  was  only  .£60. 


FAMILIES   OP  VIRGINIA.  95 

The  minister  received  £30  for  preaching  at  Mulberry  Island,  and 
<£20  for  lecturing  in  Williamsburg  on  Sunday  afternoons.  In  the 
year  1758,  we  find  the  Rev.  Mr.  Berkeley  the  minister.  In  the 
year  1772,  the  Rev.  John  Hyde  Saunders  was  ordained  for  this 
parish  by  the  Bishop  of  London.  In  the  year  1785,  the  Rev. 
James  Madison,  afterward  Bishop  of  Virginia,  became  its  minister, 
and  continued  so  until  his  death  in  1812,  long  before  which  the 
congregation  had  dwindled  into  almost  nothing, — the  church  on  the 
Island  having  sunk  into  ruins,  and  the  little  remnant  of  Episcopa- 
lians meeting  at  a  brick  church  a  few  miles  from  the  island,  on  the 
road  from  it  to  Williamsburg.  That  has  also  entirely  disappeared. 
A  young  friend  of  mine,  who  was  in  Williamsburg  about  the  year 
1810,  informed  me  that,  being  desirous  of  hearing  the  oratory  of 
Bishop  Madison,  he  had  once  or  twice  gone  out  on  a  Sabbath 
morning  to  this  church,  but  that  the  required  number  for  a  sermon 
was  not  there,  though  it  was  a  very  small  one,  and  so  he  was  dis- 
appointed. It  might  be  expected  that  I  should  in  this  place  say 
something  about  Bishop  Madison,  in  addition  to  what  may  be  found 
in  my  first  article  of  Reminiscences  of  Virginia ;'  but,  though  I 
have  endeavoured  to  procure  some  of  his  papers  for  this  purpose, 
I  have  thus  far  been  disappointed.  I  can  only  say  that  in  the 
year  1775  he  was  ordained  deacon  and  priest  by  the  Bishop  of 
London.  In  the  year  1774  he  became  Professor  in  the  College  of 
William  and  Mary,  in  the  year  1777,  President  of  the  College, 
and  in  the  year  1790  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Virginia.  His 
addresses  to  the  Convention  breathe  a  spirit  of  zealous  piety,  and 
his  recommendations  are  sensible  and  practical.  Although  agree- 
ing in  political  principles  with  those  who  were  foremost  in  the 
State  for  the  sale  of  Church  property  and  the  withholding  from 
her  and  other  Societies  any  corporate  privileges,  he  steadily  and 
perseveringly,  though  ineffectually,  resisted  their  efforts.  I  again 
repeat  my  conviction  that  the  reports  as  to  his  abandonment  of 
the  Christian  faith  in  his  latter  years  are  groundless ;  although  it 
is  to  be  feared  that  the  failure  of  the  Church  in  his  hands,  and 
which  at  that  time  might  have  failed  in  any  hands,  his  secular  and 
philosophical  pursuits,  had  much  abated  the  spirit  with  which  he 
entered  upon  the  ministry. 

The  old  church  at  Jamestown  is  no  longer  to  be  seen,  except 
the  base  of  its  ruined  tower.  A  few  tombstones,  with  the  names 
of  the  Amblers  and  Jaquelines,  the  chief  owners  of  the  island  for 
a  long  time,  and  the  Lees,  of  Green  Spring,  (the  residence  and  pro- 
perty, at  one  time,  of  Sir  William  Berkeley,)  a  few  miles  from 


96  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

Jamestown,  still  mark  the  spot  where  so  many  were  interred 
during  the  earlier  years  of  the  Colony.  Some  of  the  sacred  ves- 
sels are  yet  to  be  seen,  either  in  private  hands  or  public  temples 
of  religion.  The  first  I  would  mention  are  a  large  silver  chalice 
and  paten,  with  the  inscription  on  each, — 

"Ex  Dono  Jacob!  Morrison  Armigeri,  A.D.  1661." 

Also  a  silver  alms-basin,  with  the  inscription,  "For  the  use  of 
James  City  Parish  Church."  When  the  church  at  Jamestown 
had  fallen  into  ruin  and  the  parish  ceased  to  exist,  probably  at 
the  death  of  Bishop  Madison,  these  vessels  were  taken  under  the 
charge  of  the  vestry  in  Williamsburg.  During  the  presidency  of 
Dr.  Wilmer  over  the  College,  and  his  pastorship  of  the  church  in 
Williamsburg,  in  the  year  1827,  they  were  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  Rev.  John  Grammer,  to  be  used  in  the  church  or  churches 
under  his  care,  on  condition  of  their  being  restored  to  the  parish 
of  James  City,  should  it  ever  be  revived.  In  the  year  1854,  Mr. 
Grammer  thought  it  best  to  surrender  it  into  the  hands  of  the 
Episcopal  Convention,  with  the  request  that  it  be  deposited  for 
safe-keeping  in  the  Library  of  the  Theological  Seminary  of  Vir- 
ginia, where  it  now  is.  The  second  is  a  silver  plate,  being  part 
of  a  communion-service  presented  to  the  church  at  Jamestown, 
by  Edmund  Andros,  in  the  year  1694,  he  being  then  Governor. 
The  history  of  this  is  singular.  In  one  of  our  Southern  towns, 
about  twelve  years  since,  a  gentleman,  wishing  something  from  a 
jeweller's  shop,  was  directed  by  the  owners  of  it  to  look  into  a 
drawer  for  the  thing  wanted,  in  which  drawer  was  kept  old  silver 
purchased  for  the  purpose  of  being  worked  up  again.  This  piece 
of  plate  was  noticed,  being  much  bent  and  battered.  It  was  pur- 
chased, and,  being  restored  to  its  original  shape,  was  discovered  to 
be  what  we  have  stated ;  this  appearing  from  the  Latin  inscription 
upon  it.  This  also  has  been  presented  to  the  Church  of  Virginia. 
The  third  and  last  of  the  pieces  of  church  furniture — which  is 
now  in  use  in  one  of  our  congregations — is  a  silver  vase,  a  font  for 
baptism,  which  was  presented  to  the  Jamestown  Church,  in  1733, 
by  Martha  Jaqueline,  widow  of  Edward  Jaqueline,  and  their  son 
Edward.  In  the  year  1785,  when  the  act  of  Assembly  ordered 
the  sale  of  Church  property,  it  reserved  that  which  was  possessed 
by  right  of  private  donation.  Under  this  clause,  it  was  given 
into  the  hands  of  the  late  Mr.  John  Ambler,  his  grandson.  The 
following  lines  in  relation  to  it  are  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Edward 
Jaqueline's  grand-daughter,  the  late  Mrs.  Edward  Carrington,  of 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  97 

Richmond.  They  have  been  furnished  by  one  of  her  descendants, 
and  I  take  pleasure  in  placing  them  on  record : — 

"  Dear  sacred  vase !  do  I  indeed  behold 

This  holy  relic  of  my  church  and  sire, 
Not  basely  barter' d,  or  profanely  sold, 

But  pure  and  perfect,  still  preserved  entire  ? 

"No  sordid  act  could  change  thy  sacred  use, 

No  impious  tongue  condemn  a  gift  so  rare, 
While  plate  and  chalice  felt  the  dire  abuse, 
That  echoes  loud  in  heaven's  offended  ear. 

"  But  thou,  most  precious  vase,  remain'st  the  same, 

Still  waiting  to  perform  the  donor's  will; 
And,  when  to  men  thou  giv'st  the  Christian's  name, 
Come  thou,  0  God,  and  grace  divine  instil!" 

I  have  also  been  permitted  to  make  use  of  the  papers  of  this 
excellent  lady  in  presenting  some  sketches  of  the  members  of  her 
family  who  were  in  connection  with  the  old  church  at  James- 
town. Nor  can  I  do  this  without  first  making  a  brief  reference 
to  herself.  Mrs.  Carrington  was  a  sincere  and  pious  member  of 
our  Church  in  Richmond,  from  the  beginning  of  its  resuscitation 
in  1812, — how  much  longer  I  know  not.  Being  infirm,  from  the 
time  of  our  first  Conventions,  she  was  unable  to  attend  public 
worship,  but  was  not  ashamed  to  convert  her  house  into  a  place 
of  prayer  and  exhortation,  inviting  her  neighbours  and  friends  to 
assemble  there.  Some  pleasant  and  edifying  meetings  have  I 
been  privileged  to  attend  and  participate  in,  under  her  roof, 
during  the  last  years  of  her  pilgrimage  on  earth.  The  paper  from 
which  I  extract  the  following  was  drawn  up  in  the  year  1785,  on  a 
visit  to  one  of  the  Amblers,  at  a  residence  called  the  "  Cottage," 
in  Hanover  county,  Virginia,  and  where  were  the  portraits  of  the 
older  members  of  the  family : — 

"  The  first  was  Edward  Jaqueline,  who  was  descended  in  a  right  line 
from  one  of  those  unfortunate  banished  Huguenots  whose  zeal  in  the 
good  Protestant  cause  has  made  their  history  so  remarkable.  He  was  of 
French  extraction,  and,  from  his  buckram  suit  and  antique  periwig, 
(alluding  to  his  portrait  on  the  wall,)  must  have  arrived  in  this  country 
in  its  early  settlement.  The  costume  of  the  young  ladies  and  gentlemen 
bespoke  more  modern  fashion ;  amongst  whom  (and  she  was  the  youngest) 
stood  my  highly-respected  aunt  Martha,  who,  I  well  remember,  told  me 
she  was  born  in  the  year  1711.  She  died  at  the  age  of  ninety-three. 
From  her  I  learned  that  the  old  gentleman,  Edward  Jaqueline,  her  father, 
settled  in  Jamestown,  on  his  first  arrival  in  this  country,  where  his  tomb- 
ptone  still  remains ;  that  he  married  in  the  Carey  family,  in  Warrick 
county;  that  he  had  three  sons  and  three  daughters;  that  the  daughters 

7 


98  OLD    CHUftCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

only  survived  him;  that  the  eldest  of  these,  Elizabeth,  married  our 
grandfather,  Richard  Ambler,  a  respectable  merchant  in  Yorktown ;  that 
the  second,  Mary,  married  John  Smith,  of  Westmoreland,  from  whom 
have  descended  our  kinsfolks  John  and  Edward  Smith,  of  Frederick 
county.  The  third  was  our  dear  aunt,  Martha  Jaqueline,  who  choose  to 
take  upon  herself  the  title  of  Mrs.  at  the  age  of  fifty,  this  being  the  cus- 
tom with  spinsters  in  England  at  that  day.  Richard  Ambler  was  an  honest 
Yorkshireman,  who  settled,  as  we  have  said,  as  a  merchant  in  Yorktown, 
and  married  Elizabeth  Jaqueline,  and  thus  inherited  the  ancient  seat  in 
Jamestown,  which  was  thus  transmitted  through  several  generations, 
being  enlarged  in  size  until  the  whole  island  came  into  the  possession  of 
the  late  John  Ambler,  of  Richmond.  Mr.  Richard  Ambler  had  a  number 
of  children,  only  four  of  whom  reached  maturity, — Edward,  John,  Mary, 
and  Jaqueline,  the  latter  of  whom,  after  being  educated  in  Phila- 
delphia, entered  into  business  with  his  father  in  Yorktown,  and  mar- 
ried Rebecca  Burwell,  daughter  of  Lewis  Burwell,  and  niece  of  Pre- 
sident Nelson,  who,  having  no  daughter,  took  charge  of  her,  she  being 
left  an  orphan  at  ten  years  of  age.  Jaqueline  Ambler  and  Rebecca  his 
wife  were  the  parents  of  Eliza,  who  married  Mr.  William  Brent,  of 
Stafford,  and,  at  his  death,  Colonel  Edward  Carrington,  of  Cumberland.* 


*  Colonel  Carrington,  the  husband  of  her  from  whose  papers  I  make  these 
extracts,  entered  early  into  the  army  of  the  Revolution,  and  afterwards  served  his 
country  in  the  American  Congress.  He  was  a  great  favourite  of  Washington,  and 
endeared  himself  to  Generals  Green,  Marion,  and  Sumpter,  while  rendering  im- 
portant services  in  the  Southern  campaign,  as  their  letters  amply  show. 

It  will  not  be  inopportune  here  to  introduce  a  passage  from  one  of  Mrs.  Car- 
rington's  letters  to  her  sister,  Mrs.  Fisher,  written  from  Mount  Vernon,  where  she 
and  Colonel  Carrington  were  on  a  visit,  not  long  before  General  Washington's 
death.  I  have  always  determined  to  give,  in  some  part  of  these  sketches,  a  view 
of  the  chamber  of  a  Virginia  lady,  to  show  that,  though  abounding  with  servants, 
she  is  not  idle;  nay,  that  the  very  number  of  her  servants  creates  employment. 
After  speaking  of  the  hearty  welcome  given  them  by  the  general  and  his  lady,  and 
the  extension  of  the  retiring-hour  of  the  former  from  nine  to  twelve  on  one  night, 
when  he  and  Colonel  Carrington  were  lost  in  former  days  and  scenes  and  in  the 
company  of  Pulaski  and  Kosciusko,  she  comes  to  Mrs.  Washington,  who  spoke 
of  her  days  of  public  life,  and  levees,  and  company,  as  "her  lost  days."  "Let 
us  repair  to  the  old  lady's  room,  which  is  precisely  in  the  style  of  our  good  old 
aunt's, — that  is  to  say,  nicely  fixed  for  all  sorts  of  work.  On  one  side  sits  the 
chambermaid,  with  her  knitting;  on  the  other,  a  little  coloured  pet,  learning 
to  sew.  An  old,  decent  woman  is  there,  with  her  table  and  shears,  cutting  out 
the  negroes'  winter-clothes,  while  the  good  old  lady  directs  them  all,  incessantly 
knitting  herself.  She  points  out  to  me  several  pair  of  nice  coloured  stockings 
and  gloves  she  had  just  finished,  and  presents  me  with  a  pair  half  done,  which  she 
begs  I  will  finish  and  wear  for  her  sake."  "It  is  wonderful,  after  a  life  spent  as 
these  good  people  have  necessarily  spent  theirs,  to  see  them,  in  retirement,  assume 
those  domestic  habits  that  prevail  in  our  country."  If  the  wife  of  General 
Washington,  having  her  own  and  his  wealth  at  command,  should  thus  choose  to 
live,  how  much  more  the  wives  and  mothers  of  Virginia  with  moderate  fortunes 
and  numerous  children !  How  often  have  I  seen,  added  to  the  above-mentioned 
scenes  of  the  chamber,  the  instruction  of  several  sons  and  daughters  going  on,  the 
churn,  the  reel,  and  other  domestic  operations,  all  in  progress  at  the  same  time, 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  99 

Mary  married  John  Marshall;*  Anne,  George  Fisher;  and  Lucy,  Daniel 
Call. 

From  the  papers  of  Mrs.  Carrington  I  take  the  following  con- 
cerning the  religious  character  of  her  mother : — 

"  Often,  when  a  child,  have  I  listened  to  my  mother's  account  of  her 
early  devotion  to  her  Maker:  heard  her  describe  how,  at  the  age  of 
thirteen,  deprived  of  earthly  parents,  she,  with  pious  resignation,  turned 
her  heart  to  God,  and,  in  the  midst  of  a  large  family,  sought  a  retired 
spot  in  the  garret,  where  she  erected  a  little  altar  at  which  to  worship. 
There,  with  her  collection  of  sacred  books,  she  gave  her  earliest  and  latest 
hours  to  God.  Her  character,  in  the  opinion  of  her  giddy  companions, 
was  stamped  with  enthusiasm.  But  who  would  not  wish  to  be  such  an 
enthusiast?  In  after-years  she  made  it  her  meat  and  drink  to  do  the 
will  of  God,  and  never,  in  one  instance,  do  I  recollect  her  to  have  shrunk 
from  it.  Her  whole  life  was  a  continued  series  of  practical  Christian 


and  the  mistress,  too,  lying  on  a  sick-bed.  There  are  still  such  to  be  found, 
though  I  fear  the  march  of  refinement  is  carrying  many  beyond  such  good  old 
ways. 

*  The  papers  from  which  I  quote  state  that  the  first  meeting  of  Captain 
Marshall  and  his  future  wife  was  at  York,  where  the  Amblers  at  that  time  lived ; 
that  the  father  of  Captain  Marshall — Colonel  Thomas  Marshall,  from  Fauquier — 
was  the  commanding  oflicer  at  York,  and  that  his  son,  who  was  in  the  army, 
came  to  visit  him  and  the  family  there,  during  some  months  when  his  services 
were  not  required  in  the  army;  that  an  attachment  was  formed,  at  first  sight, 
between  him  and  the  youngest  daughter  of  Colonel  Ambler,  she  being  only  four- 
teen years  of  age;  that  Mr.  Marshall  endeared  himself  to  them  all,  notwith- 
standing his  slouched  hat  and  negligent  and  awkward  dress,  by  his  amiable  man- 
ners, fine  talents,  and  especially  his  love  for  poetry,  which  he  read  to  them  with 
deep  pathos ;  that,  during  his  absence  from  the  army  of  a  few  months,  he  studied 
law  in  Williamsburg,  obtained  a  license,  and  returned  to  the  army  as  captain ;  that 
immediately  after  the  war  he  and  Miss  Ambler  were  married,  at  the  Cottage,  in 
Hanover,  a  seat  of  one  of  the  Amblers ;  that  after  having  paid  the  minister  his  fee 
his  fortune  was  only  one  guinea  in  pocket.  In  proof  of  the  ardour  of  his  cha- 
racter and  the  tenderness  of  his  attachment  to  his  intended  wife,  Mrs.  Carrington 
remarks  that  he  had  often  said  to  her  "  that  he  looked  with  astonishment  on  the 
present  race  of  lovers,"  so  totally  unlike  what  he  had  been  himself.  The  proof 
of  this  was  seen  in  his  persevering  devotion  to  Mrs.  Marshall  during  life. 

That  Judge  Marshall  should  be  a  reader  and  lover  of  poetry  may  be  some- 
what unexpected  to  many  who  have  been  accustomed  to  regard  him  only  as  the 
able  lawyer,  the  grave  and  dignified  chief-justice,  or  the  laborious  historian ;  yet 
it  was  nevertheless  so,  to  a  justifiable  extent  Hie  education  was,  from  the  first, 
classical,  under  the  Rev.  Mr.  Thompson,  and  was  so  continued,  at  William  and 
Mary  College,  when  the  first  scholars  presided  over  it.  I  remember  once  to  have 
heard  him  quote,  with  a  playful  aptitude,  concerning  some  leading  persons  who 
had  changed  their  political  relations,  these  words  of  old  Homer, — 

"Ye  gods,  what  havoc  does  ambition  make 
'Mong  all  your  works !" 


100  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  AND 

duty,  and  her  example  can  never  be  effaced  from  the  hearts  of  those  who 
knew  her." 

Mrs.  Carrington  also  speaks,  in  like  manner,  of  her  father,  Mr. 
Jaqueline  Ambler : — 

"  His  saintlike  image  is  too  deeply  impressed  to  need  any  picture  of 
mine  to  recall  him  to  our  remembrance.  I  find  a  complete  portrait  of 
him  drawn  by  the  inimitable  Cowper: — 

"  '  He  is  the  happy  man  whose  life  e'en  now 

Shows  somewhat  of  that  happier  life  to  come.'" 

Speaking  of  the  piety  of  both  of  her  parents,  she  says, — 

"We  boast  not  that  we  deduce  our  birth 
From  loins  enthroned,  or  rulers  of  the  earth ; 
But  higher  far  our  high  pretensions  rise, — 
Children  of  parents  pass'd  into  the  skies." 

Her  aged  aunt  Jaqueline  had  assured  her  that  piety  distinguished 
her  father  from  early  youth.  She  herself  had  experienced  the 
fruits  of  it  in  his  assiduous  care  of  herself  and  sisters.  Her  mo- 
ther being  in  very  bad  health,  her  father,  though  much  engaged  in 
the  duties  of  his  office,  (collector  of  the  King's  customs  at  York,) 
devoted  all  his  spare  hours  to  the  education  of  herself  and  her 
sister,  (afterward  Mrs.  Marshall,)  then  only  five  or  six  years  of  age. 
The  copies  for  writing  were  always  written  by  himself,  in  a  fair 
hand,  containing  some  moral  or  religious  sentiment,  but  defective 
in  grammar,  that  they  might  correct  them ;  and  so  of  other  branches. 
The  advantages  they  possessed  were  superior  to  any  enjoyed  in 
those  days,  when  there  were  no  boarding-schools  and  all  that  was 
taught  "was  reading  and  writing,  at  twenty  shillings  a  year  and 
a  load  of  wood."  Mrs.  Carrington  informs  us  that  "the  govern- 
ment exercised  by  her  father  was  by  some  thought  to  be  too  severe, 
for  the  rod,  at  that  time,  was  an  instrument  never  to  be  dispensed 
with,  and  our  dear  father  used  it  most  conscientiously.  I  have 
since  discovered  that  his  superior  knowledge  of  human  nature  led 
him  to  pursue  the  right  course,  (as  to  discipline,)  and  in  my  own 
subsequent  experience,  in  the  education  of  children,  I  have  found 
that  the  present  prevailing  opinion,  that  youth  may  be  reared  and 
matured  by  indulgence,  is  erroneous.  I  will  venture  to  say  that, 
with  a  very  few  exceptions,  it  will  be  always  proper  to  observe  a 
well-regulated  discipline.  "We  often  hear  the  observation  that  a 
rigid  parent  never  has  an  obedient  child.  Our  experience  certainly 
contradicts  it.  Where  the  parent  is  found  to  unite  the  virtuous 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  101 

Christian  with  the  conscientious  disciplinarian,  he  will  never  cease 
to  be  loved  and  respected.  Such  a  father  was  ours,  and  the  love 
and  respect  we  bore  him  has  seldom  been  equalled."  His  example, 
also,  added  weight  to  his  precept  and  government.  "Never  did 
man  live  in  the  more  constant  practice  of  religious  duties.  Early 
and  late  we  knew  him  to  be  in  the  performance  of  them.  It  was 
his  daily  habit  to  spend  his  first  and  latest  hours  in  prayer  and 
meditation.  Every  Sunday  that  his  church  was  open,  he  was  the 
first  to  enter  it,  and  often  would  he  be  almost  a  solitary  male  at 
the  table  of  the  Lord/'  This,  she  adds,  was  during  the  war,  when 
the  men  were  engaged  in  it,  and  when  infidelity  was  spreading 
through  the  land.  The  last  end  of  this  good  man  was,  as  might 
be  expected,  one  of  peace.  On  his  death-bed,  when  speaking  of 
one  of  his  neighbours,  who  had  gone  to  some  distant  place  in 
search  of  a  home,  he  said,  with  his  eyes  uplifted  to  heaven,  "I  am 
going  to  a  nearer,  happier  home  "  To  a  female  friend,  who  was  at 
his  bedside  when  he  died,  he  exclaimed, — 

"  See  the  New  Jerusalem ! 
See  it  open'd  to  my  eyes !" 

From  such  ancestors,  as  might  well  be  expected  according  to  the 
covenant  of  grace,  many  pious  children  have  descended,  who  have 
faithfully  adhered  to  the  Church  of  their  fathers. 

P.S. — Since  preparing  the  above,  I  have  received  a  fuller  ac- 
count of  the  descendants  of  the  first  of  the  Jaquelines.  He  came 
to  this  country  from  Kent,  in  England,  in  the  year  1697,  and,  mar- 
rying Miss  Carey,  of  Warwick,  settled  at  Jamestown.  His  daugh- 
ter Mary  married  one  of  those  Smiths  in  Middlesex  of  whom  we 
shall  make  mention  in  our  article  on  that  parish,  and  two  of  which 
family  were  ministers  of  the  Church  in  Gloucester  and  Matthews. 
Colonel  Edward  and  General  John  Smith,  of  Frederick,  and  many 
others,  were  the  children  of  Mary  Jaqueline  and  John  Smith.  We 
have  seen,  in  the  account  taken  from  the  papers  of  Mrs.  Carrington, 
the  sketch  of  one  braijch  of  the  Amblers,  that  descended  from  Ja- 
queline  Ambler,  who  married  Miss  Burwell.  We  have  only  to  refer 
to  that  descended  from  Edward  Ambler,  who  inherited  Jamestown, 
or  a  large  portion  of  it.  Mr.  Edward  Ambler  married  Miss  Mary 
Carey,  daughter  of  Wilson  Carey,  the  lady  of  whom  Washington 
Irving,  in  his  life  of  Washington,  speaks,  as  the  one  to  whom  Gene- 
ral Washington  was  somewhat  attached.  One  of  his  sons  was  Mr. 
John  Ambler,  first  of  Jamestown,  then  of  Hanover,  and  afterward  of 


102  OLD   CHUBCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

Richmond.  His  first  wife  was  a  Miss  Armistead,  by  whom  he  had 
Edward,  who  settled  in  Rappahannock,  and  Mary,  who  married 
Mr.  Smith.  His  second  wife  was  the  sister  of  Judge  Marshall,  by 
whom  he  had  one  child,  Major  Thomas  Ambler,  of  Fauquier.  His 
third  wife  was  the  widow  of  Mr.  Hatley  Norton,  of  England,  and 
daughter  of  Philip  Bush,  of  Winchester,  by  whom  he  had  many 
sons  and  daughters,  who  are  married  and  settled  in  various  parts 
of  the  State, — warm  friends  or  members  of  the  Church.  Two  of 
the  descendants  of  this  branch  of  the  family  are  worthy  ministers 
of  the  Church, — the  Revs.  Charles  and  Thomas  Ambler. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  103 


ARTICLE  VII. 

Being  an  appendix  to  the  articles  on  James  City  parish,  and  con- 
taining a  further  account  of  the  Jaquelines,  Amblers,  and  James- 
town.— No.  5. 

SINCE  the  foregoing  notice  of  these  families  was  written.  I 
have  had  access  to  some  most  reliable  documents,  from  which  have 
been  obtained  the  following  additional  information : — 

Within  the  last  thirty  years  visits  have  been  made  to  England 
by  a  number  of  their  descendants,  and  an  intercourse,  personal 
and  epistolary,  been  established  between  those  in  England  and 
those  in  America.  I  am  the  more  pleased  at  being  allowed  access 
to  these  documents,  because  I  am  enabled  thereby  to  gratify  a 
favourite  wish  and  design  of  these  articles  in  the  establishment 
of  a  connection  between  the  old  families  and  the  old  Church  of 
England  and  America. 

The  tradition  prevalent  in  Virginia  as  to  the  descent  of  the 
Ambler  family  is  entirely  confirmed  by  a  letter  of  the  Rev. 
George  Ambler,  of  Wakefield,  in  Yorkshire,  to  one  of  his  relatives 
in  Virginia.  Wakefield  and  Leeds  are  near  to  each  other  in 
Yorkshire,  as  they  are  in  Westmoreland,  Virginia, — the  latter 
deriving  their  names  from  the  former  through  the  instrumentality 
of  the  Washington  and  Fairfax  families,  whose  residence  was  in 
that  part  of  England.  The  Amblers  were  also  from  the  same 
place>  and  Leeds  Manor,  in  Fauquier,  may  have  received  its  name 
through  them.  The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Ambler,  of  England,  to  Mr.  Philip  St.  George  Ambler, 
of  Virginia: — 

"  I  am  seventy-four  years  of  age, — a  graduate  of  the  University  of  Cam- 
bridge,— a  clergyman, — living  in  my  native  town  (Wakefield,  in  York- 
shire) upon  my  private  means ;  am  descended  from  John  Ambler,  of  the 
city  of  York,  who  was  sheriff  of  the  county  in  1721.  My  great-grand- 
father, the  aforesaid  John  Ambler,  had  a  son,  Richard,  who  followed  the 
fortunes  of  a  relative  in  Virginia.  That  son  had  nine  children,  of 
which  I  happen  to  possess  a  list." 

This  number  exactly  agrees  with  that  of  the  children  of  Richard 
Ambler,  of  York,  who  married  Miss  Jaqueline,  of  Jamestown.  A 


104  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

sister  of  this  Richard  Ambler  (Mary  Ambler)  married  the  Rev. 
George  Shaw,  a  minister  of  the  Established  Church,  and  was 
grandmother  of  Charles  Shaw  Lefevre,  late  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Commons.  For  many  years  this  Richard  Ambler  was  collector 
of  the  port  at  Yorktown,  an  office  both  honourable  and  lucra- 
tive, and  which  he  discharged  with  great  integrity.  Of  his 
nine  children  by  Elizabeth  Jaqueline,  all  died  at  an  early  age, 
except  Edward,  John,  and  Jaqueline,  as  we  have  said  in  our  last 
article. 

I  find  some  interesting  notices  in  the  document  before  me  con- 
cerning these  three, — which  I  shall  introduce,  but  not  without  a 
previous  notice,  from  the  same  source,  of  the  family  of  their 
mother,  Elizabeth  Jaqueline: — 

"  Her  father,  Edward  Jaqueline,  of  Jamestown,  was  the  son  of  John 
Jaqueline  and  Elizabeth  Craddock,  of  the  county  of  Kent,  in  England. 
He  was  descended  from  the  same  stock  which  gave  rise  to  the  noble  family 
of  La  Roche  Jaqueline  in  France.  They  were  Protestants,  and  fled  from 
La  Vendee,  in  France,  to  England,  during  the  reign  of  that  bloodthirsty 
tyrant,  Charles  IX.  of  France,  and  a  short  time  previous  to  the  Massacre 
of  St.  Bartholomew.  They  were  eminently  wealthy,  and  were  fortunate 
enough  to  convert  a  large  portion  of  their  wealth  into  gold  and  silver, 
which  they  transported  in  safety  to  England/' 

"Whilst  I  was  in  Paris/'  (says  one  of  the  travellers  from  America,)  "in 
1826,  the  Duke  de  Sylverack,  who  was  the  intimate  friend  of  Madame 
De  la  Roche  Jaqueline,  (the  celebrated  authoress  of  the  'Wars  of  La 
Vendee/)  informed  me  that  the  above  account — which  is  the  tradition 
among  the  descendants  of  the  family  in  America — corresponds  exactly 
with  what  the  family  in  France  believe  to  have  been  the  fate  of  those 
Jaquelines  who  fled  to  England  in  the  reign  of  Charles  IX.  I  found  the 
family  to  be  still  numerous  in  France.  It  has  produced  many  distin- 
guished individuals;  but  none  more  so  than  the  celebrated  Yende'an 
chief,  Henri  De  la  Roche  Jaqueline,  who,  during  the  Revolution  of  1790, 
was  called  to  command  the  troops  of  La  Vendee  after  his  father  had  been 
killed,  and  when  he  was  only  nineteen  years  of  age.  Thinking  that  he 
was  inadequate  to  the  task,  on  account  of  his  extreme  youth  and  total 
want  of  experience  in  military  afiairs,  he  sought  seriously  to  decline  the 
dangerous  honour  •  but  the  troops,  who  had  been  devotedly  attached  to 
the  father  and  family,  would  not  allow  him  to  do  so,  and  absolutely  forced 
him  to  place  himself  at  their  head  in  spite  of  himself.  As  soon  as  he 
found  that  resistance  was  useless,  he  assumed  the  bearing  of  a  hero  and 
gave  orders  for  a  general  review  of  his  army :  to  which,  (being  formed  in 
a  hollow  square,)  in  an  animated  and  enthusiastic  manner,  he  delivered 
this  ever-memorable  speech  : — 

"  '  My  friends,  if  my  father  was  here  you  would  have  confidence  in 
him ;  but  as  for  me,  I  am  nothing  more  than  a  child.  But,  as  to  my 
courage,  I  shall  now  show  myself  worthy  to  command  you/ 

"  This  young  man  started  forth  a  military  Roscius,  and  maintained  to 
the  end  of  his  career  the  high  ground  he  first  seized.  After  displaying 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  105 

all  the  skill  of  a  veteran  commander,  and  all  the  courage  of  a  most  daunt- 
less hero,  he  nobly  died  upon  the  field  of  battle,  at  the  early  age  of  twenty- 
one,  thus  closing  his  short  but  brilliant  career." 

The  document  thus  concludes  on  the  subject  of  the  Jaque- 
lines : — 

"  By  a  mourning-ring  now  in  possession  of  Mary  Marshall,  the  wife  of  the 
Chief-Justice  of  the  United  States,  it  appears  that  Edward  Jaqueline 
died  in  the  year  1730.  He  died,  as  he  had  lived,  one  of  the  most 
wealthy  men  in  the  Colony." 

We  now  proceed  to  speak  of  the  three  grandsons  of  Edward 
Jaqueline.  The  sons  of  Bichard  Ambler  and  Elizabeth  Jaqueline 
were  John,  Edward,  and  Jaqueline.  John  was  born  in  Yorktown. 
At  the  age  of  ten  he  was  sent,  with  his  elder  brother,  Edward,  to 
Leeds  Academy,  near  Wakefield,  in  Yorkshire,  England,  for  his 
education.  He  afterward  graduated  with  great  credit  at  Cam- 
bridge, and  then  repaired  to  London,  to  begin  the  study  of  law. 
There  he  became  a  very  learned  and  accomplished  barrister-at-law. 
After  travelling  over  Europe,  he  returned  to  Virginia  and  took 
possession  of  Jamestown,  which  estate  had  been  given  him  by  his 
grandfather  Jaqueline.  He  represented  the  borough  of  James- 
town for  many  years,  and  was  considered  one  of  the  most  accom- 
plished scholars  in  the  Colony.  He  was  perfect  master  of  seven 
languages.  Many  of  his  books  in  those  different  languages  have 
come  down  to  his  relatives.  His  health  sunk  under  his  literary 
habits,  and  he  died  of  consumption,  at  the  age  of  thirty-one,  in  the 
island  of  Barbadoes.  His  body  was  brought  to  Jamestown,  and 
deposited  in  the  old  graveyard  around  the  church.  The  following 
inscription,  taken  in  1820  from  a  tombstone  of  which  no  vestige 
now  remains,  shows  in  what  esteem  he  was  held  by  his  brother  Ed- 
ward, who  died  on  the  day  it  was  placed  over  his  remains : — 

"John  Ambler,  Esquire,  Barrister-at-Law,  Representative  in  the  As- 
sembly for  Jamestown,  and  Collector  of  the  District  of  York  River,  in 
this  Province. 

"  He  was  born  the  31st  of  December,  1735,  and  died  at  Barbadoes, 
27th  of  May,  1766.  In  the  relative  and  social  duties — as  a  son,  and  a 
brother,  and  a  friend — few  equalled  him,  and  none  excelled  him.  He 
was  early  distinguished  by  his  love  of  letters,  which  he  improved  at  Cam- 
bridge and  the  Temple,  and  well  knew  how  to  adorn  a  manly  sense  with 
all  the  elegance  of  language.  To  an  extensive  knowledge  of  men  and 
things  he  joined  the  noblest  sentiments  of  liberty,  and  in  his  own  example 
held  up  to  the  world  the  most  striking  picture  of  the  amiableness  of  reli- 
gion." 


106  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

To  this  brief  testimony  to  the  worth  of  one  whose  days  were 
soon  numbered,  we  add  a  more  enlarged  one  to  the  virtues  of  hia 
brother,  Mr.  Jaqueline  Ambler : — 

"Jaqueline  Ambler,  the  seventh  child  of  Richard  and  Elizabeth  Am- 
bler, was  born  in  the  town  of  Little  York,  on  the  9th  of  August,  1742. 
At  an  early  age  he  married  Rebecca,  daughter  of  Lewis  Burwell,  of  White 
Marsh,  in  Gloucester  county,  Virginia.  He  was  Councillor  of  State 
during  the  Revolutionary  War,  at  the  time  that  Thomas  Jefferson  was 
Governor  of  Virginia.  He  was  afterward  appointed  Treasurer  of  State, 
which  office  he  held  until  his  death.  He  stood  as  high,  as  a  man  of 
honour,  as  any  who  had  ever  lived,  either  in  ancient  or  modern  times.  He 
was  indeed  so  remarkable  for  his  scrupulous  integrity  that  he  was  called, 
throughout  the  land,  l  The  Aristides  of  Virginia.'  Whilst  Treasurer,  one 
of  his  clerks  robbed  the  Treasury  of  £5000.  The  officers  whose  duty  it 
was  to  examine  the  Treasurer's  books  for  that  year  failed  to  detect  the 
defalcation,  and  reported  to  the  Legislature  that  the  Treasurer's  books 
balanced  as  they  should  do.  Mr.  Ambler  was  the  first  to  find  out  the  vil- 
lany  and  immediately  reported  it  to  the  Legislature,  who  caused  a  re-exa- 
mination of  the  books  to  take  place,  re-elected  him  to  the  office,  and 
passed  an  act  in  which  they  declared  that  their  confidence  in  his  character, 
so  far  from  being  impaired  by  the  event,  had  been  greatly  increased : 
whereupon  he  immediately  paid  the  £5000  into  the  treasury,  out  of  his 
own  funds,  and  determined  to  continue  in  office.  Pie  was  ae  charitable 
as  his  means  would  allow  him  to  be ;  no  meritorious  person  in  distress 
ever  applied  to  him  in  vain.  There  was  living  in  Richmond  a  poor 
Scotch  clergyman,  named  John  Buchanan,  whom  he  invited  to  make  his 
house  his  home  until  he  should  be  able  to  support  himself.  The  invita- 
tion was  accepted. 

"  The  excellent  parson  Buchanon  lived  with  him  till  he  died,  offi- 
ciated when  he  was  consigned  to  the  grave,  and  preached  his  funeral 
sermon,  from  which  the  following  extract  is  made  : — 

"  l  And  when  can  we  more  seasonably  apply  to  these  duties  than  when 
we  are  warned  by  the  loss  of  our  friends  to  remember  our  latter  end  and 
apply  our  hearts  unto  wisdom  ?  We  have,  my  brethren,  been  lately  pay- 
ing the  last  sad  tribute  to  a  departed  brother.  He  whose  loss  we  now 
lament  has  passed  the  fifty-fifth  year  of  his  age  without  a  blemish  to 
his  reputation;  without  an  enemy;  with  numerous  friends.  Adored 
by  his  family,  he  has  almost  consoled  them  for  his  loss  by  the  conviction 
that  he  has  not  gone  too  early  for  himself,  and  that  he  was  mature  in 
character. 

"  'Notwithstanding  the  constant  exposure  of  an  official  man  to  the  dis- 
pleasure of  others,  by  the  impartiality  of  his  conduct,  even  those  who  went 
away  from  him  unindulged  in  their  applications  were  satisfied  by  a  confi- 
dence in  the  purity  of  his  motives.  His  public  career  for  nearly  twenty 
years  was  a  series  of  testimony  to  this  truth.  Drawn  from  the  peaceful 
walks  of  private  life  into  public  action,  without  a  solicitation  or  a  wish 
previously  expressed,  he  was  chosen  by  the  Legislature  to  three  important 
offices  daring  the  Revolution  and  since  the  peace.  His  last,  that  of  Trea- 
surer, presented  for  thirteen  years  to  malice,  envy,  or  enmity,  had  they 
existed  against  him,  an  annual  opportunity  of  gratification.  And  yet  was 
he  annually  re-elected,  because  he  had  unremittingly  shown  his  fitness 


FAMILIES  OP  VIRGINIA. 


107 


for  the  office.  His  fatal  disorder  put  human  nature  to  the  rack;  but  he 
bore  his  agonies  with  every  firmness  of  which  human  nature  was  capable, 
cherished,  strengthened,  and  animated  by  the  divine  glow  of  Christianity, 
and  foreseeing  with  a  smile  the  prospect  opening  to  his  view.  The  poor 
scarcely  knew  the  hand  from  whence  they  so  often  received  relief;  and 
those  who  were  his  dependants  could  not  but  own  how  much  their  condi- 
tion was  softened  by  the  kindness  of  their  master/  " 

"  To  this  fair  transcript  of  his  character,"  says  Dr.  Bu- 
channon,  the  author  of  the  sermon,  "  I  might,  from  a  fourteen 
years'  knowledge  of  him,  (ten  whereof  I  spent  in  his  family,) 
add  many  private  traits  which  characterize  him  as  the  good  man 
and  sincere  and  pious  Christian.  I  could  set  before  you  innume- 
rable instances  of  kind  attention  and  anxious  solicitude  to  alleviate 
the  distresses,  bear  the  infirmities,  provide  for  the  wants,  nay,  even 
anticipate  the  wishes,  of  her  to  whom  he  was  united ;  of  the  con- 
stant care  and  unremitted  assiduity  of  the  fond  but  judicious  pa- 
rent training  up  his  own  children,  as  also  the  fatherless  and  those 
who  had  none  to  guide  and  direct  them  in  the  paths  of  religion  and 
virtue,  not  merely  by  daily  precepts,  but  by  what  is  infinitely  more 
efficacious,  by  daily  example ;  and  thus  conscientiously  discharging 
that  most  important  of  all  trusts,  and  securing  their  eternal  as  well  as 
temporal  interests.  I  might  bear  honourable  testimony  to  his  being 
as  tender  of  the  reputation  of  another ;  repelling  every  report  cir- 
culated by  envy  or  malice  against  his  neighbour's  fame,  and,  like 
Christian  charity,  thinking  no  evil.  I  might  adduce  repeated 
proofs  of  his  delicacy  and  purity  of  manners  and  conversation, 
and  of  his  temperance  and  self-government.  He  may,  however, 
have  been  thought  by  some  too  reserved  and  too  much  of  a  recluse ; 
and  that  he  separated  himself  more  than  was  necessary  from 
scenes  of  cheerful  and  innocent  sociability.  But,  it  may  be  truly  said, 
none  had  greater  enjoyment  in  his  family  and  the  private  circle 
of  his  friends  whenever  the  state  of  his  health  would  permit ;  and 
that  he  was  sufficiently  conversant  in  the  world  to  present  a  fair 
model  of  integrity,  and  a  constant  attention  to  his  duties  as  an 
officer,  though  not  enough  to  be  seduced  or  contaminated  by  its 
follies  and  vices.  To  sum  up  all,  I  might  lead  to  his  private  retire- 
ment, and  there  present  to  you  the  devout  Christian,  prostrate  in 
humble  supplication  before  his  almighty  Creator,  which  they  only 
who  follow  his  example  can  justly  estimate,  and  which  they  know 
proves  their  greatest  consolation  in  the  various  trials  and  calamities 
of  life.  In  fine,  I  might  conduct  you  to  the  altar  of  God,  where 
you  would  hear  him  making  a  public  profession  of  his  faith,  and, 


108  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  AND 

regardless  of  the  scoffs  of  the  infidel  and  the  ridicule  of  a  vain 
and  inconsiderate  world,  giving  an  open  and  solemn  testimony  that 
he  was  not  ashamed  of  the  cross  of  Christ,  which  was  to  him  both 
the  wisdom  and  power  of  God  to  his  salvation. 

"  These  and  many  more  features  of  his  character  I  might  exhibit 
to  your  view.  But  though  a  minute  and  particular  detail  would 
still  appear  to  myself  as  falling  short  of  his  merit,  yet,  to  those 
less  acquainted  with  him  than  I  was,  it  might  seem  to  be  drawn  by 
the  flattering  pencil  of  a  friend.  I  therefore  forbear  a  further 
recital,  and  make  one  reflection  naturally  arising  from  the  subject : 
— that  whenever  the  eye  of  man  is  disgusted  and  shocked  by  scenes 
of  impiety,  rapine,  cruelty,  and  bloodshed,  let  him  cast  it  on  such 
a  fair  and  pleasing  picture  as  the  present,  which  does  so  much 
honour  to  human  nature,  and  he  will  not  fail  to  conclude  that  man, 
the  prey  of  furious  and  malignant  passions,  resembles  an  infernal 
spirit ;  but  when  actuated  by  the  sacred  dictates  of  religion  and 
devoted  virtue  he  claims  kindred  with  the  angels  in  heaven. 
'Mark,  therefore,  the  perfect  man,  and  behold  the  upright,  for 
the  end  of  that  man  is  peace.'  ' 

The  following  account  of  Mr.  Edward  Ambler  is  from  the  same 
source, — the  family  document: — 

"When  he  attained  the  age  of  twelve  years  he  was  sent  to  England  to 
finish  his  education,  accompanied  by  his  younger  brother,  John.  They 
were  entered  at  Leeds  Academy,  near  Wakefield,  in  the  county  of  York, 
at  which  place  they  continued  for  several  years;  after  which  they  were 
sent  to  Cambridge,  where  they  went  through  a  regular  course  of  study 
and  terminated  their  university  career  with  the  highest  credit.  The 
liberality  of  Mr.  Richard  Ambler  allowed  his  son  Edward  to  make 
the  grand  tour  of  Europe  after  he  quitted  the  university,  so  that  he  had 
passed  his  twenty-first  year  before  he  returned  to  Virginia.  After 
which  event  it  was  not  very  long  before  he  led  to  the  altar  Miss  Mary 
Gary,  the  daughter  of  Wilson  Gary,  Esquire,  of  Celeys,  Elizabeth  City 
county,  Virginia,  who  was  descended  from  one  of  the  most  noble  families 
in  all  England. 

"The  elder  sister  of  Miss  Mary  Gary  had  married  George  William 
Fairfax,  at  whose  house  she  was  on  a  visit,  when  she  captivated  a  young 
man,  who  paid  her  his  addresses.  His  affection,  however,  was  not  re- 
turned, and  the  offer  of  his  hand  was  rejected  by  Miss  Gary.  This  young 
man  was  afterward  known  to  the  world  as  General  George  Washington, 
the  first  President  of  the  United  States  of  America.  Young  Washing- 
ton asked  permission  of  old  Mr.  Gary  to  address  his  daughter  before  he 
ventured  to  speak  to  herself.  The  reply  of  the  old  gentleman  was,  'If 
that  is  your  business  here,  sir,  I  wish  you  to  leave  the  house,  for  my 
daughter  has  been  accustomed  to  ride  in  her  own  coach/  It  has  subse- 
quently been  said  that  this  answer  of  Mr.  Gary  to  the  stripling  Washing- 


FAMILIES   OP  VIRGINIA.  109 

ton  produced  the  independence  of  the  United  States,  and  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  the  future  fame  of  the  first  of  heroes  and  the  best  of  men, — our 
immortal  Washington ;  as  it  was  more  than  probable  that,  had  he  obtained 
possession  of  the  large  fortune  which  it  was  known  Miss  Gary  would  carry 
to  the  altar  with  her,  he  would  have  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life  in 
inglorious  ease.  It  was  an  anecdote  of  the  day,  that  this  lady,  many 
years  after  she  had  become  the  wife  of  Edward  Ambler,  happened  to  be 
in  Williamsburg  when  General  Washington  passed  through  that  city  at 
the  head  of  the  American  army,  crowned  with  never-fading  laurels  and 
adored  by  his  countrymen.  Having  distinguished  her  among  the  crowd, 
his  sword  waved  toward  her  a  military  salute,  whereupon  she  is  said  to 
have  fainted.  But  this  wants  confirmation,  for  her  whole  life  tended  to 
show  that  she  never  for  a  moment  regretted  the  choice  she  had  made.  It 
may  be  added,  as  a  curious  fact,  that  the  lady  General  Washington  after- 
ward married  resembled  Miss  Gary  as  much  as  one  twin-sister  ever  did 
another. 

"Edward  Ambler,  after  the  death  of  his  father,  Richard  Ambler,  was 
appointed  Collector  of  the  port  of  York,  which  station  he  was  induced 
to  occupy,  rather  on  account  of  the  honour  it  conferred  in  those  days, 
than  for  the  sake  of  the  emolument.  He  was  a  man  of  such  considera- 
tion in  the  Colony,  that  when  Lord  Baron  Botetourt  came  over  to  this 
country  as  Colonial  Governor  of  Virginia  he  brought  a  letter  of  introduc- 
tion to  him,  which  is  now  in  possession  of  the  writer.  Upon  the  death 
of  his  younger  brother,  John,  who  gave  him  Jamestown,  he  removed 
there  to  live,  and  represented  the  old  borough  for  many  years  afterward  in 
the  House  of  Burgesses.  Edward  Ambler  died  and  was  buried  at  James- 
town, in  the  thirty-fifth  year  of  his  age,  Anno  Domini  1767.  His 
widow  survived  him  fourteen  years.  When  the  Revolutionary  War  broke 
out  she  removed,  with  her  children,  from  Jamestown  to  the  Cottage,  in 
Hanover  county,  which  was  a  much  less  exposed  situation.  Several  of 
her  acquaintances  and  connections  removed  from  the  lower  country  and 
bought  estates  near  the  Cottage,  merely  for  the  sake  of  society.  Among 
others  were  Robert  Carter  Nicholas,  Esquire,  who  bought  and  lived  at  a 
place  called  '  The  Retreat/  Wilson  Miles  Cary,  Esquire,  her  brother, 
bought  an  estate  near,  as  did  the  family  of  General  Nelson ;  so  that  this 
neighbourhood,  as  deserted  and  uninhabited  as  it  now  is,  afforded  at  that 
time  as  polished  society  as  any  in  Virginia.  Mrs.  Ambler  was  a  woman 
of  uncommon  strength  of  mind  and  firmness  of  purpose.  After  the  tea 
had  been  thrown  overboard  at  Boston,  she  would  not  allow  a  particle  of  it 
to  be  used  in  her  family,  though  fully  able  to  have  indulged  in  every 
luxury  which  the  country  afforded.  And,  as  another  proof  of  her  pa- 
triotism, I  will  mention,  what  I  have  often  heard  my  father  say,  that,  at  the 
time  that  the  young  Marquis  De  la  Fayette  was  retreating  before  Lord 
Cornwallis,  he  passed  with  his  army  near  the  Cottage,  taking  the  right- 
hand  road  to  Negrofoot,  about  half  a  mile  above  Ground- Squirrel  Bridge 
and  two  from  the  Cottage.  As  soon  as  she  heard  of  it  she  procured  uni- 
form and  arms  for  my  father,  then  a  boy  only  sixteen  years  of  age,  buckled 
them  on  him  with  her  own  hands,  and  then  bade  him  'to  go  out  and  join 
the  American  troops ;  and  though  you  are  my  last  and  only  child,'  said 
she,  l return  to  me  with  honour  or  return  no  more!'  This  most  excellent 
and  amiable  lady  did  not  live  to  see  her  country  independent  and  the  war 
terminate,  as  she  fondly  wished  she  might  do,  that  she  might  once  more 
return  to  light  her  hospitable  fires  in  the  hearths  of  her  noble  old  family 


110  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  AND 

mansion  at  Jamestown ;  to  which  every  member  of  the  family  had  been 
exceedingly  attached  for  several  generations  past ;  for  at  that  spot  almost 
all  of  the  blood  and  the  name  had  been  born,  had  lived,  had  died,  and 
been  buried.  Independent  of  its  antiquity, — being  so  celebrated  as  the 
spot  where  the  first  successful  Colony  from  England  located  themselves  in 
America,  and  where  the  first  town  and  the  first  church  had  been  built  in 
America,  with  bricks  brought  from  England, — it  is  a  noble  estate  of  about 
thirteen  hundred  acres  of  land,  situated  on  the  banks  of  James  River, 
where  this  noble  stream  is  near  four  miles  wide,  and  originally  had  one  of 
the  largest  old  mansions  on  it  that  was  built  in  times  when  a  Virginia 
gentleman  vied  in  wealth  with  an  English  nobleman.  Though  half  of 
this  structure  was  destroyed  by  fire  during  the  lifetime  of  the  first  John 
Ambler,  yet  the  remainder  presents  as  commodious  and  commanding  an 
appearance  as  any  dwelling-house  in  Virginia.  The  estate  is  now  an 
island ;  though  it  was  formerly  a  peninsula,  connected  with  the  mainland 
by  a  narrow  isthmus,  which  has  in  the  last  century  been  entirely  washed 
away  by  the  resistless  action  of  the  waves  upon  it.  At  Jamestown  there 
abound,  in  the  very  greatest  perfection  in  which  they  can  be  eaten,  all 
sorts  of  fish,  deer,  wild  ducks,  sora;  and  ortolans.  Figs,  grapes,  and  pome- 
granates here  attain  perfection.  It  is  situated  within  eight  miles  of  the 
ancient  city  of  Williamsburg,  which,  during  the  lifetime  of  my  grand- 
mother, contained  as  polished  society  as  could  have  been  found  at  the 
court  of  St.  James  itself.  In  the  year  1781,  Mrs.  Mary  Ambler,  the 
widow  of  him  whom  we  shall  call  the  first  Edward  Ambler,  whilst  staying 
at  the  Cottage,  in  Hanover  county,  was  attacked  by  that  illness  which 
ended  in  her  death.  Whilst  on  her  death-bed  she  directed  that  her  re- 
mains should  be  taken  to  Jamestown.  But,  as  the  war  still  raged  with 
England,  it  was  thought  best  to  have  them  interred  where  she  died.  And 
even  this  precaution  did  not  have  the  effect  of  securing  them  from  the 
profanation  of  the  British  troops,  a  detachment  of  which  overran  this  part 
of  the  country  and  came  to  the  Cottage  to  ransack  and  to  plunder.  In 
looking  for  the  family  plate  they  took  it  into  their  heads  that  it  was 
buried  in  the  graveyard ;  though  they  were  assured  to  the  contrary  by  the 
servants.  They  proceeded  to  the  grave  of  niy  grandmother,  dug  up  the 
coffin,  and  actually  opened  it  before  they  would  be  satisfied  that  the  object 
of  their  search  was  not  there.  When  the  war  was  ended,  Mrs.  Ambler's 
remains  were  taken  to  Jamestown,  according  to  her  request,  and  placed  by 
the  side  of  those  of  her  husband." 

The  following  account  of  a  recent  visit  to  Jamestown  will  con- 
clude our  notices  of  this  parish : — 

On  the  27th  of  October,  1856,  I  went  to  this  place  of  ruins  in 
company  with  the  Kev.  Dr.  Totten,  the  Rev.  George  Wilmer,  Mr. 
Richard  Randolph,  and  Colonel  Durfey.  The  latter  had  been 
owner  of  the  place  some  years  since,  and  was  well  acquainted  with 
its  past  and  present  history.  Mr.  Randolph,  our  Virginia  anti- 
quary, was  also  quite  at  home  as  to  all  that  belonged  to  the 
scene.  We  entered  the  island  in  a  boat,  at  the  upper  or  western 
end  of  it,  near  to  that  which  was  once  the  neck  constituting  it  a 
peninsula  and  uniting  it  to  the  mainland.  This  has  long  since 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  Ill 

been  overflowed  and  the  peninsula  has  become  an  island.  About 
ninety  years  ago  the  late  Mr.  John  Ambler,  then  owning  the 
greater  part  of  the  island  and  residing  on  it,  made  a  causeway  on 
that  which  had  been  the  neck  of  land,  but  which  was  now  covered 
with  water  some  feet  deep.  This,  after  some  time,  having  been 
overwhelmed  with  the  waves  of  James  River,  Colonel  Durfey,  on 
becoming  the  proprietor  of  the  whole  island,  made  a  bridge  to  it  at 
some  distance  from  the  causeway,  over  which  the  stage  passed,  car- 
rying passengers  to  the  Old  Wharf  at  Jamestown,  where  the 
steamboats  received  them.  Only  the  piles  on  which  the  bridge 
rested  now  remain,  and  the  steamboats  receive  passengers  from 
Williamsburg  and  the  country  around  at  some  other  place.  The 
only  access  at  this  time  to  the  island  from  the  mainland  is  by  boat 
across  Back  River,  which  surrounds  the  island  on  the  west  and  in 
part  on  the  north  and  east,  uniting  with  James  River  at  the  upper 
and  lower  ends  of  the  island ;  also  stretching  up  some  miles  into 
the  mainland,  by  ,a  creek  called  Portan.  While  the  neck  of  land 
stood  firm,  Back  River  terminated  in  this  creek.  Since  the  irrup- 
tion of  the  waters  of  James  River  over  this  neck,  the  upper  part 
of  the  island  has  lost  much  of  its  ancient  territory.  The  neck 
itself  is  in  some  places  a  third  of  a  mile  in  the  river.  A  large 
portion  of  the  town  also  lies  buried  in  the  waves.  At  low-water 
some  signs  of  it  may  yet  be  seen.  As  this  was  the  highest  part 
of  the  peninsula,  and  the  most  fertile  and  beautiful,  the  town  was 
chiefly  built  on  it.  The  work  of  destruction  has  now  passed  along 
nearly  a  mile,  from  the  original  connection  with  the  mainland  to 
the  lower  part  of  the  town,  where  the  public  buildings  and  the  old 
church  stood.  The  bank  is  giving  way  within  one  hundred  and 
fifty  yards  of  the  old  tower  and  graveyard ;  and,  if  some  remedy 
be  not  applied  in  time,  they  also  must  be  immersed  in  the  waters 
of  old  Powhatan ;  for  that  was  the  Indian  name  of  James  River. 
As  the  church  was  built  on  the  fifty  acres  of  land  which  is  deeded 
to  the  authorities  of  James  City  for  public  houses,  it  is  hoped  that 
in  due  time  either  those  authorities  or  that  of  the  State  will  guard 
the  same  against  destruction.  The  old  tower  and  the  ruins  of  the 
church  are  about  fifty  yards  from  the  river,  which  in  that  place 
has  not  yet  encroached  on  the  bank ;  although,  as  we  have  said,  a 
hundred  and  fifty  yards  above  it  is  rapidly  advancing  on  the 
island. 

Something  special  deserves  to  be  said  of  the  ruins  of  the  old 
church.  The  graveyard,  in  the  midst  of  which  it  stood,  contained 
about  half  an  acre  of  land,  which  is  covered  with  old  sycamores, 


112  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

and  mulberries,  and  smaller  trees,  and  shrubberies,  which  form  a 
dense  shade.  The  old  brick  enclosure,  which  was  mouldering  into 
ruins,  and  some  of  the  walls  of  the  church,  were  used  about  sixty 
years  ago  by  Mr.  William  Lee,  of  Green  Spring,  and  the  late  Mr. 
John  Ambler,  of  Jamestown,  in  making  a  small  enclosure  around 
the  tombstones  which  were  still  remaining.  This  enclosure  covers 
about  one-third  of  the  original  one,  and  takes  in  a  part  of  the  spot 
on  which  the  church  stood.  The  foundation  of  the  old  church  is 
still  marked  by  the  bricks  which  remain.  On  accurate  measure- 
ment, we  found  it  to  be  an  oblong  square  of  just  twenty-eight  feet 
by  fifty-six.  The  ruined  tower  was  judged  to  be  about  thirty  feet 
high,  and,  by  measurement,  proved  to  be  eighteen  feet  square.  As 
there  are  conflicting  opinions  concerning  the  date  of  the  erection 
of  this  old  church, — some  affirming  that  what  we  see  are  the  ruins 
of  that  which  was  destroyed  in  Bacon's  rebellion,  while  others 
affirm  the  building  of  a  new  one  after  that  event, — we  will  briefly 
state  the  facts  bearing  on  the  case.  The  history  of  the  succession 
of  the  Jamestown  churches  is  as  follows : — The  first  place  of  wor- 
ship, as  described  by  Captain  Smith,  was  made  of  the  awning,  or 
old  sails,  taken  from  vessels,  and  fastened  to  trees.  The  second 
was  a  very  plain  log  building,  which  was  burned  down  in  the  second 
or  third  year  of  the  Colony,  during  the  ministry  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Hunt.  The  third  was  a  larger  and  better  one,  probably  of  wood, 
built  during  the  presidency  of  Captain  Smith,  and  in  a  ruinous 
or  neglected  condition  when  Lord  De  la  War  arrived,  in  1611. 
By  him  it  was  repaired  and  adorned  as  I  have  stated.  Its  dimen- 
sions were  twenty-four  feet  by  sixty.  The  chancel,  called  quoir, 
was  large  enough  to  hold  the  Governor,  the  Council,  and  other 
officers  of  state.  This  was  doubtless  the  same  in  which  Governor 
Yeardley,  with  the  Councillors  and  Burgesses,  held  their  legislative 
session  in  1619 ;  and,  as  we  read  of  no  other  being  built  between 
that  time  and  1676,  when  the  town  and  church  were  burned  down 
by  Bacon,  it  is  most  probable  that  this  was  the  building.  In  oppo- 
sition to  the  theory  that  the  present  are  the  ruins  of  the  old  church 
which  was  burned  in  the  rebellion,  is  the  fact  that  the  dimensions 
of  the  church  which  Smith  built  and  Lord  De  la  War  repaired 
were  different  from  the  one  whose  ruins  are  now  seen.  The  dimen- 
sions of  the  former  were  twenty-four  by  sixty ;  those  of  the  latter 
twenty-eight  by  fifty-six.  Other  circumstances  there  are,  which 
render  it  almost  certain  that  another  church  had  been  built  since 
the  destruction  of  the  one  by  Bacon.  Not  only  was  there  a  goodly 
number  of  families  residing  in  the  place  for  some  time  after  this, 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  113 

but  the  court-house  and  House  of  Burgesses  were  there  until  the 
removal  of  the  seat  of  government  to  Williamsburg,  after  the  year 
1705.  Although  the  Governors  may  have  lived  at  Green  Spring, 
yet  some  of  the  officers  of  government,  belonging  to  the  port,  and 
Legislature,  were  there;  and  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  they 
would  live  for  thirty  years  without  a  church.  This  improbability 
is  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  Governor  Andros  presenfed  some 
communion-plate  to  the  church  at  Jamestown  in  1694;  and  yet 
more  by  another  fact,  that  in  1733  a  silver  font,  still  in  existence, 
was  presented  to  it  by  two  of  the  Ambler  family.  Surely  these 
would  not  have  been  presented  to  the  ruins  of  a  deserted  church. 
We  must,  therefore,  suppose  that  the  ruins  which  we  now  behold 
are  those  of  a  church  put  up  since  the  rebellion.  That  they  are 
not  the  ruins  produced  by  fire  I  ascertain,  not  merely  by  the  fact 
that  there  are  no  marks  of  destruction  by  fire,  but  by  the  testimony 
of  an  elderly  gentleman,  who  assured  me  h.e  was  present  when  the 
wooden  part  of  the  tower  was  burned  by  accident.  It  is  proper  to 
state,  in  connection  with  this,  that  at  a  later  period,  the  date  not 
known,  a  brick  church  was  built  on  the  road  from  Jamestown  to 
Williamsburg,  called  the  "Main  Church,"  in  which  Bishop  Madi- 
son preached  in  the  concluding  years  of  his  ministry.  He  doubt- 
less preached  at  Jamestown  in  the  earlier  part  of  it.  The  Main 
Church  hae  recently  disappeared.  Underneath  it  was  found  a  brick 
vault,  containing  the  remains  of  some  unknown  ones  who  were 
buried  there.*  Having  thus  disposed  of  the  church,  we  add  some- 
thing concerning  the  graveyard.  Deep-pressed  into  the  earth  and 
almost  covered  up  by  it  we  found  the  following  inscription : — 
"  Here  lyeth  the  body  of  the  Rev.  John  Gough,  late  minister  of 
this  place,  who  departed  this  life  January  15th,  1683—4,  and  waits 
in  hopes  of  a  joyful  reunion."  This  supplies  one  blank  in  our  list 
of  its  ministers.  Besides  this,  we  found  the  tombstones,  or  frag- 
ments thereof,  of  Philip  Ludwell  and  Sarah  his  wife,  of  Ursula 
Beverly,  wife  of  Robert  Beverly  and  daughter  of  William  Byrd, 
(the  first  of  that  name,  we  presume,  and  who  lived  in  Williams- 


*  Since  the  above  was  written  I  have  received  the  following  information: — "The 
last  minister  of  the  '  Main  Church'  before  Bishop  Madison  was  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bland, 
afterward  of  Norfolk.  His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  William  Yates,  who 
was  for  a  short  time  President  of  William  and  Mary  College.  When  the  church 
was  taken  down,  a  piece  of  timber  broke  the  arch  of  a  vault  containing  a  coffin, 
with  a  plate  on  which  was  inscribed  'Elizabeth  Bland,'  with  a  vacant  space  suffi- 
cient for  another  coffin." 


114  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

burg  during  the  building  of  the  College.)  The  tombs  of  Edward 
Jaqueline  and  Jaqueline  Ambler,  also  those  of  B.  Harrison  and 
Mrs.  Edwards,  may  yet  be  seen. 

Something  special  in  the  way  of  notice  is  due  to  the  condition 
of  the  tombs  of  Commissary  Blair  and  Mrs.  Blair;  the  latter  being 
the  daughter  of  Philip  Ludwell,  of  Green  Spring,  who  married 
Miss  Sa'rah  Grymes,  of  Middlesex.  The  tombs  were  placed  side 
by  side,  and  were  very  heavy  and  strong.  The  platform,  sides, 
and  ends  were  of  white  freestone,  and  the  interior  filled  with 
bricks,  well  cemented.  The  top  slab,  on  which  the  inscriptions 
were  made,  are  of  thick  dark  iron-stone,  or  black  marble.  A 
sycamore-shoot  sprung  up  between  the  graves  and  is  now  a  large 
tree.  In  its  growth  it  embraced,  on  one  end  and  on  the  top,  the 
tomb  of  Mrs.  Blair,  one-third  of  which  lies  embedded  in  the  body 
of  the  tree  and  is  held  immovable.  All  the  interior,  consisting  of 
brick,  and  two  of  the  side-stones,  have  been  entirely  forced  out  of 
their  places  by  the  tree  and  lie  scattered  around,  while  the  dark 
iron-stone  slab  is  held  in  the  air  three  feet  above  the  surface  of  the 
earth,  fast  bound  by  the  embrace  of  the  body  of  the  tree,  into 
which  it  is  sunk  between  one  and  two  feet,  the  inscription  being 
only  partially  legible.  On  the  other  side,  the  whole  tomb  of  Com- 
missary Blair  has  been  forced  away  from  its  place  by  the  roots 
and  body  of  the  tree,  and  is  broken  to  pieces  in  all  its  parts. 
We  found  about  two-thirds  of  the  slab  (on  which  was  the  inscrip- 
tion) scattered  in  three  or  four  fragments  at  some  distance  from 
each  other,  and  having  put  them  together  made  out  an  imperfect 
Latin  memorial, — so  imperfect  that  we  shall  not  insert  it. 

Leaving  the  ruins  of  the  church  and  graveyard,  we  add  a  few 
concluding  words  as  to  the  island.  About  two  hundred  yards  be- 
low the  church  and  a  hundred  from  the  river,  is  the  old  brick  house 
of  the  Amblers,  or  a  large  part  thereof,  built,  it  is  supposed,  more 
than  a  hundred  years  since.  It  is  still  in  good  repair  and  is  the 
residence  of  the  manager  of  the  present  owner,  Mr.  William  Allen. 
It  is  the  only  house  on  the  island  except  the  old  brick  magazine 
and  a  small  frame  room  near  it,  both  of  which,  unless  preventive 
measures  are  adopted,  must  soon  tumble  into  James  River.  At  the 
lower  end  of  the  island  there  are  still  the  remains  of  a  graveyard 
belonging  to  the  Travis  family,  which  owned  that  part  of  the  island 
for  some  generations.  The  house  is  gone.  This  part  of  the  island 
became  separated  from  the  other  by  some  low  and  swampy  ground. 
Mr.  Allen  now  owns  the  whole  of  the  island,  which  consists  of 
about  seventeen  hundred  acres  and  is  between  two  and  three  miles 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  115 

in  length  and  three-quarters  of  a  mile  in  width.  Twelve  hundred 
acres  of  it  are  now  and  always  have  been  a  marsh  and  incapable 
of  use.  There  are  one  hundred  acres  of  woodland  and  four  hun- 
dred of  arable  land,  very  fertile  and  valuable.  Within  the  last 
thirty  years  it  has  changed  owners  several  times,  being  sold  at 
various  prices,  from  ten  to  thirty  thousand  dollars. 


116  OLD   CHDJICHE8,  MINISTERS,  AND 


ARTICLE  VIII. 

The  Parish  of  James  City.— No.  6.* 

SOME  NOTES  ON  JAMESTOWN ;  SUPPLEMENTARY  TO  BISHOP  MEAPE'S 

ARTICLES. 

YOUR  readers  must  have  been  deeply  interested,  Mr.  Editor,  by 
Bishop  Meade's  articles  in  your  paper  upon  the  "  Old  Churches, 
Ministers,  and  Families  of  Virginia."  For  a  very  long  and  im- 
portant portion  of  the  history  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Vir- 
ginia, his  own  experience  and  observation  have  put  him  in  posses- 
sion of  the  best  materials  ;  and  for  the  rest,  his  position  and  efforts 
have  enabled  him  to  avail  himself  of  most  of  what  others  had  to 
contribute.  For  a  vast  deal  of  information,  therefore,  must  we 
acknowledge  ourselves  dependent  upon  and  indebted  to  him. 

When  he  reached  the  parish  of  James  City,  however,  he  entered 
a  field  which  has  been  long  comparatively  open  to  the  researches 
of  other  inquirers.  Dr.  Hawks  explored  it  some  years  ago  with 
such  industry  and  success,  that  we  regret  that  he  could  not  have 
had  the  rare  opportunities  for  obtaining  materials  which  have  been 
enjoyed  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Anderson.  No  one  can  properly  study, 
write,  or  appreciate  Virginia  history  who  does  not  largely  and 
heartily  enter  into  those  parts  relating  and  devoted  to  religion  and 
the  Church.  So  that,  if  confined  to  any  two  works  for  the  history 
of  Virginia  down  to  the  Revolutionary  period,  one  could  hardly 
do  better  than  take  Henning's  Statutes  at  Large  and  Hawks's 
Contributions  to  the  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Virginia. 

It  is  hoped  that  a  few  supplementary  notes  will  not  be  deemed 
by  Bishop  Meade  or  any  one  else  as  an  intrusion,  but  as  a  co-opera- 
tion in  the  good  work  in  which  he  is  engaged.  Should  any  new 
facts  be  brought  out,  or  any  inadvertences  corrected,  it  may  be  of 
some  little  service  when  he  comes  to  rewrite  his  articles  for  a  more 
permanent  form  of  publication. 

Bishop  Meade  gives  deserved  prominence  and  praise  to  the  mis- 


*  This  article  did  not  appear,  as  was  designed,  in  the  "Southern  Churchman;" 
but  it  is  here  inserted  as  a  valuable  addition  to  the  preceding  ones. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  117 

sionary  element  that  entered  into  the  colonization  of  Virginia. 
Those  adventurers  who  looked  chiefly  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the 
conversion  of  the  Infidels  were  as  sincerely  convinced  as  any 
others  of  the  bright  prospects  of  gold  and  other  temporal  benefits  ; 
but  they  used  these  mainly  for  the  purpose  of  stimulating  "  the 
action,"  that  the  religious  and  spiritual  blessings  to  which  they 
looked  might  be  realized.  The  constancy  and  continuousness  with 
which  these  last  are  held  up  in  all  that  was  said,  done,  and  written 
in  behalf  of  this  Colony  until  that  awful  check  in  the  massacre  by 
Opechancanough,  in  1622,  are  remarkable.  Even  the  business- 
entries  in  the  records  of  the  Company  in  London  make  express 
reference  to  the  blessing  of  God  and  the  favouring  care  of  his 
providence.  Whilst  the  motto  of  every  patriot  and  Christian 
should  be,  "A  religious  nation,  and  not  a  national  religion,"  yet  a 
connection  between  Church  and  State  is  apt  to  confer  upon  the 
State  the  benefit  of  an  express  recognition,  in  all  enterprises  of 
public  pith  and  moment,  of  God's  supremacy  and  superintending 
providence.  This  is  a  good  habit  in  itself;  but,  of  course,  its 
chief  value  consists  in  the  sincerity  of  those  who  practise  it,  whe- 
ther rulers  or  ruled.  In  the  case  before  us,  numbers  of  Christian 
men  and  women  were  equally  as  fervent  and  sincere  as  Richard 
Hakluyt  and  Robert  Hunt. 

Bishop  Meade  refers  to  the  first  charters  and  to  the  instructions 
issued  by  King  James  in  1606.  But  the  passage  in  those  instruc- 
tions which  enjoins  kind  treatment  of  the  savages,  &c.  has  this 
singular  addendum : — "  And  that  all  just,  kind,  and  charitable 
courses  shall  be  holden  with  such  of  them  as  shall  conform  them- 
selves to  any  good  and  sociable  trafic  and  dealing  with  the  sub- 
jects of  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  which  shall  be  planted  there, 
whereby  they  may  be  the  sooner  drawn  to  the  true  knowledge  of 
God  and  the  obedience  of  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  under  such 
severe  pains  and  punishments  as  shall  be  inflicted  by  the  same 
several  presidents  and  councells  of  the  said  several  Colonies,  or 
the  most  part  of  them,  within  their  several  limits  and  precincts,  on 
such  as  shall  offend  therein  or  doe  the  contrary."  We  must  not 
lose  sight  of  the  spirit  of  the  age,  especially  when  we  come  to 
judge  of  that  after-policy  which  is  said  to  have  been  ever  the 
reproach  of  Virginia. 

In  the  third  charter,  1611-12,  March  12,  which  still  recites 
that  the  plantation  was  undertaken  "  for  the  propagation  of  Chris- 
tian religion  and  reclaiming  of  people  barbarous  to  civility  and 
humanity,"  is  a  fact  worth  mentioning, — viz.:  The  fifth  section 


118  OLD  CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  AND 

expressly  admits  and  confirms  among  the  adventurers,  G-eorge, 
Lord-Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Henry,  Earl  of  Huntingdon, 
Edward,  Earl  of  Bedford,  and  Richard,  of  Clanrickard,  \s*ho  were 
named  in  this  formal  manner  at  the  request  of  the  Company,  "  for 
the  good  and  welfare  of  the  plantation,  and  that  posterity  may 
hereafter  know  who  have  adventured  and  not  been  sparing  of  their 
purses  in  such  a  noble  and  generous  action  for  the  general  good  of 
their  country."  These  are  the  only  four  named  in  this  charter, 
and,  as  they  had  all  become  members  of  the  Company  already,  this 
was  doubtless  done  to  get  the  influence  of  their  names.  There  are 
still  extant  alphabetical  lists  of  the  adventurers  down  to  the  year 
1620. 

It  was  under  this  charter  that  that  code  of  "Laws,  Divine, 
Moral,  and  Martial,"  was  introduced  by  Gates  and  Dale,  about  the 
period  when  the  Company  were  seriously  debating  whether  they 
should  not  recall  Lord  De  la  War  home  and  abandon  the  action. 
They  called  Gates  from  Virginia  to  England  to  advise  them  on 
that  subject.  He  and  Lord  De  la  War  induced  them  to  persevere  : 
but  the  state  of  affairs,  especially  in  the  Colony,  required  new  and 
vigorous  remedies.  The  colonists  were  heterogeneous,  disorderly, 
wasteful,  and  mutinous ;  they  had  to  obtain  something  to  return 
home  by  the  ships ;  they  had  to  produce  a  part  of  their  own  sub- 
sistence, almost  sword  in  hand ;  for  the  Indians,  spoiled  by  New- 
port and  others,  and  no  longer  fooled  with  articles  of  mere  trifling 
value,  would  not  trade  freely,  and  were  not  only  not  yet  conciliated 
by  the  marriage  of  Pocahontas,  but  were  really  exasperated  by  the 
new  intruders.  The  Colony  had  to  be  reduced  into  somewhat  of 
a  camp  both  for  purposes  of  labour  and  of  defence.  Compulsion 
in  religious  matters  was  a  long-practised  thing  in  the  mother-coun- 
try and  in  those  countries  with  whom  she  had  intercourse.  Indeed, 
are  not  some  compulsory  features  inseparable  from  any  system  that 
tolerates  a  union  between  Church  and  State  ?  Can  there  long  be 
entire  religious  freedom  and  tolerance,  save  where  religion  is  sus- 
tained and  enforced  solely  on  the  voluntary  principle  ?  as  in  this 
most  glorious  land  of  free  freedom, — the  wonder,  thus  far,  of  hu- 
man history. 

Neither  Gates  nor  Dale  was  a  despot  or  tyrant.  They  had  no 
Brewster  cases  and  appeals  during  their  administration.  Argall 
was  a  tyrant,  and  a  government  of  greater  mildness  theoretically 
would  have  been  arbitrarily  administered  by  him. 

In  judging,  then,  of  the  code  of  laws  referred  to  above,  whilst 
we,  with  the  road-to-Damascus  light  about  us,  cannot  but  condemn 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  119 

them,  yet  they  should  be  viewed  through  the  media  of  those  days 
in  which  they  were  adopted. 

Bishop  Meade  says  that  Strachy  probably  had  a  hand  in  con- 
cocting them.  This  is  doubtful ;  but  he  certainly  edited  and  vin- 
dicated them  in  1612. 

Promising  a  narrative  of  what  he  had  seen  and  suffered  in  Ber- 
muda and  Virginia,  he  says,  "  I  do,  in  the  mean  time,  present  a 
transcript  of  the  Toparchia,  or  state  of  those  duties  by  which 
their  Colonie  stands  regulated  and  commanded,  that  such  may 
receive  due  checke,  who  malitiously  and  desperately  heretofore 
have  censured  it ;  and  by  examining  of  which  they  may  be  right 
sorrie  so  to  have  defaulked  from  us  as  if  we  lived  there  lawlesse, 
without  obedience  to  our  countrey  or  observance  of  religion  to 
God."  He  declares,  moreover,  that  the  laws  are  not  new,  but 
"  the  same  constant  asterismes  and  star  res  which  must  guide  all 
that  travel  in  these  perplexed  ways  and  paths  of  public  affairs," 
&c.  By  this  code,  which  deals  so  lavishly  in  capital  punishment, 
many  and  the  chief  offences  were  cognizable  loth  by  martial  law 
and  by  the  civil  magistrate  ;  but  there  was  a  goodly  catalogue  ap- 
pertaining only  to  martial  discipline,  which  were  to  be  diligently 
observed  and  severely  executed.  Along  with  the  laws,  Strachy 
publishes  instructions  from  the  marshal  to  each  officer,  and  even  to 
the  private  soldier,  for  the  better  enabling  each  in  executing  his 
duty.  These  are  in  the  nature  of  a  long  and  wholesome  lecture, 
or  charge,  and  wind  up  with  the  lengthy  but  excellent  prayer 
quoted  from  by  Bishop  Meade,  and  which  was  to  be  said  twice 
daily,  upon  the  court  of  guard,  by  the  captain  or  one  of  his  prin- 
cipal officers. 

The  religious  services  enjoined  were  as  follows :  —  On  week- 
days, early  in  the  morning,  the  captain  sent  for  tools,  for  which  a 
receipt  was  given ;  the  companies  assembled,  with  the  tools,  in  the 
place  of  arms,  where  "  the  serjeant-major,  or  captain  of  the  watch, 
upon  their  knees,  made  public  and  faithful  prayers  to  Almighty 
God  for  his  blessing  and  protection  to  attend  them  in  this  their 
business  the  whole  day  after-succeeding."  The  men  were  divided 
into  gangs,  who  worked  on  alternate  days.  The  gang  for  the  day 
was  then  delivered  to  the  maisters  and  overseers  of  the  work  ap- 
pointed, who  kept  them  at  labour  until  nine  or  ten  o'clock,  accord- 
ing to  the  season  of  the  year ;  then,  at  the  beat  of  the  drum,  they 
were  marched  to  the  church  to  hear  divine  service.  After  dinner, 
and  rest  till  two  or  three  o'clock,  at  beat  of  drum,  the  captain 
drew  them  forth  to  the  place  of  arms,  to  be  thence  taken  to  their 


120  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

work  till  five  or  six  o'clock,  when,  at  beat  of  drum,  they  were 
again  marched  to  church  to  evening  prayer :  they  were  then  dis- 
missed,— those  that  were  to  set  the  watch  with  charge  to  prepare 
their  arms,  the  others  unto  their  rest  and  lodgings.  After  order 
given  out  for  the  watch,  the  captain  had  to  assemble  his  company, 
except  his  sentinels,  upon  his  court  of  guard,  and  there  "  humbly 
present  themselves  on  their  knees,  and,  by  faithful  and  zealous 
prayer  to  Almighty  God,  commend  themselves  and  their  endea- 
vours to  his  merciful  protection."  Again,  in  the  morning,  an 
hour  after  the  discharge  of  the  watch,  were  they  to  repair  to  the 
court  of  guard,  and  there,  "with  public  prayer,  to  give  unto  Al- 
mighty God  humble  thanks  and  praises  for  his  merciful  and  safe 
protection  through  the  night,  and  commend  themselves  to  his  no 
less  merciful  protection  and  safeguard  for  the  day  following." 

It  was  also  the  special  duty  of  the  captain  to  have  religious  and 
manly  care  over  the  poor  sick  soldiers  or  labourers  under  his  com- 
mand ;  to  keep  their  lodgings  sweet  and  their  beds  standing  three 
feet  from  the  ground,  as  provided  in  the  public  injunctions. 

A  singular  duty  was  laid  upon  him  who  was  for  the  time  the 
captain  of  the  watch.  Half  an  hour  before  divine  service,  morn- 
ing and  evening,  he  had  to  shut  the  ports  and  place  sentinels,  and, 
the  bell  having  tolled  the  last  time,  to  search  all  the  houses  of  the 
town,  to  command  every  one  of  what  quality  soever  (the  sick  and 
hurt  excepted)  to  repair  to  church ;  after  which  he  was  to  follow 
all  the  guards  with  their  arms  into  the  church  and  lay  the  keys 
before  the  governor.  On  Sunday,  he  was  to  see  that  the  Sabbath 
was  noways  profaned  by  any  disorders,  gaming,  drunkenness,  in- 
temperate meeting,  or  such  like,  in  public  or  private,  in  the  streets 
or  within  the  houses.  On  the  Sabbath,  all  were  required,  under 
severe  penalties,  to  attend  divine  service,  sermons,  and  catechizing, 
morning  and  evening.  Any  disrespect  to  a  minister  or  preacher 
was  also  punished,  and  every  person  then  in  or  who  might  arrive 
in  the  Colony  was  required  to  give  an  account  of  his  or  her  reli- 
gious faith  to  the  minister  and  to  seek  instruction  from  him. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  blended  system — martial,  civil,  and 
religious — that  same  missionary  spirit  was  maintained.  Even  in 
the  charge  from  the  marshal  to  his  colonel  in  this  passage  : — 

"If  the  wisest  man  that  ever  spake  or  writ  (except  him  that  was  both 
God  and  man)  summed  up  all  the  reckonings  of  worldly  felicities  in 
these  two  words, — Icetari  et  benefacere,  imploying  a  cheerful  mirth  with 
well-doing,  (from  which  it  cannot  be  severed,) — who  hath  more  cause  to  be 
cheerful  and  inly  glad  than  you,  that  have  the  comfort  of  so  great  well- 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  121 

doing,  to  which  no  other  may  be  compared  ?  For  what  well-doing  can  be 
greater  than  to  be  stocks  and  authors  of  a  people  that  shall  serve  and  glo- 
rify God,  which  is  the  end  of  all  our  creation,  and  to  redeem  them  from 
ignorance  and  infidelity  to  the  true  knowledge  and  worship  of  God, 
whereby  you  are  made  partakers  of  this  promise,  that  they  which  lead 
others  into  righteousness  shall  shine  like  the  stars  in  the  firmament? 
wherein  be  right  well  assured  that  your  happiness  is  envied  by  many  a 
right-knowing  and  excellent  virtuous  man  in  England,"  &c. 

Bishop  Meade  has  alluded  to  the  fact  that  for  several  years 
after  the  death  of  Mr.  Hunt  the  Colony  was  without  a  minister. 
This  is  referred  to  in  "A  True  Declaration  of  the  Estate  of  the 
Colony  in  Virginia,"  &c.,  published  by  the  council  in  England,  in 
1610,  as  one  of  the  causes  which  had  provoked  God  to  visit  the 
plantation  with  those  dire  calamities  which  beset  it  at  the  time  that 
Lord  De  la  War  was  first  sent  out  as  Governor  for  life. 

"  Cast  up,"  says  the  publication  just  referred  to,  "  this  reckoning  toge- 
ther,— want  of  government,  store  of  idleness,  their  expectations  frustrated 
by  the  traitors,  their  market  spoiled  by  the  mariners,  our  nets  broken,  the 
deere  chased  away,  our  boats  lost,  our  hogs  killed,  our  trade  with  the 
Indians  forbidden,  some  of  our  men  fled,  some  murthered,  and  most,  by 
drinking  of  the  brackish  water  of  James  Fort,  weakened  and  endaun- 
gered,  famyne  and  sickness  by  all  these  means  increased,  here  at  home 
the  monies  came  in  so  slowly  that  the  Lord  Laware  could  not  be  dis- 
patched till  the  Colony  was  worne  and  spent  with  difficulties.  Above  all, 
having  neither  ruler  nor  preacher,  they  neither  feared  God  nor  man, 
which  provoked  the  wrath  of  the  Lord  ,of  hosts  and  pulled  down  his 
judgments  upon  them." 

Bishop  Meade  quotes  from  Crashaw  how  providential  and  op- 
portune was  the  arrival  of  Lord  De  la  War.  Indeed,  there  did 
seem  then  to  be  a  most  remarkable  divine  interposition  in  behalf 
of  the  Colony,  the  striking  circumstances  of  which  are  exultingly 
set  forth  in  the  "  True  Declaration"  already  mentioned : — 

"  He  that  shall  further  observe  how  God  inclineth  all  casual  events  to 
work  the  necessary  help  of  his  saints  must  needs  adore  the  Lord's  infi- 
nite goodness.  Never  had  any  people  more  just  cause  to  cast  themselves 
at  the  footstool  of  God  and  to  reverence  his  mercy  than  our  distressed 
Colony;  for  if  God  had  not  sent  Sir  Thomas  Gates  from  the  Bermudas 
within  four  days,  they  had  all  been  famished ;  if  God  had  not  directed 
the  heart  of  that  worthy  knight  to  save  the  fort  from  fire*  at  their  ship- 
ping, they  had  been  destitute  of  a  present  harbour  and  succour ;  if  they 
had  abandoned  the  fort  any  longer  time  and  had  not  so  soon  returned,  ques- 


*  When  they  abandoned  the  town  to  return  to  England,  the  people  were  eager 
to  burn  up  the  place ;  and,  to  prevent  them,  Sir  Thomas  Gates,  with  a  select  party, 
stayed  on  shore  till  they  had  all  embarked. 


122  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

tionless  the  Indians  would  have  destroyed  the  fort  which  had  been  the 
means  of  our  safety  among  them  and  a  terror  to  them.  If  they  had  set 
sail  sooner  and  had  launched  into  the  vast  ocean,  who  could  have  pro- 
mised that  they  should  have  encountered  the  "fleet  of  the  Lord  De  la 
War  ?  especially  when  they  made  for  Newfoundland, — a  course  contrary  to 
our  navies  approaching.  If  the  Lord  De  la  War  had  not  brought  with 
him  a  year's  provision,  what  comfort  could  those  souls  have  received,  to 
have  been  relanded  to  a  second  destruction  ?  Brachium  Domini,  this  was 
the  arm  of  the  Lord  of  hosts,  who  would  have  his  people  pass  the  Red 
Sea  and  wilderness  and  then  to  possess  the  land  of  Canaan.  If  God  for 
man  be  careful,  why  should  man  be  over-distrustful  ?" 

The  following  letter,  from  an  unknown  person,  relates  to  the 
proposition  at  a  later  period  to  establish  a  College  at  Henrico : — 

"  To  SIR^  EDWIN  SANDIS,  TREASURER  OF  VIRGINIA. 
IHS 

"  Good  luck  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  who  is  daily  magnified  by  the 
experiment  of  your  zeal  and  piety  in  giving  beginning  to  the  foundation 
of  the  College  in  Virginia,  the  sacred  work  so  due  to  heaven  and  so 
longed-for  on  earth.  Now  know  we  assuredly  that  the  Lord  will  do  you 
good,  and  bless  you  in  all  your  proceedings,  oven  as  he  blessed  the  house 
of  Obed-edom  and  all  that  pertained  unto  him,  because  of  the  ark  of  God. 
Now  that  ye  seek  the  kingdom  of  God  all  things  shall  be  ministered  unto 
you.  This  I  well  see  already,  and  perceive  that  by  your  godly  determina- 
tion the  Lord  hath  given  you  favour  in  the  sight  of  the  people ;  and  I 
know  some  whose  hearts  are  much  enlarged  because  of  the  house  of  the 
Lord  our  God,  to  procure  your  wealth,  whose  greater  designs  I  have  pre- 
sumed to  outrun  with  this  oblation,  which  I  humbly  beseech  you  may  be 
accepted  as  the  pledge  of  my  devotion  and  as  the  earnest  of  the  vows  I 
have  vowed  unto  the  Almighty  God  of  Jacob  concerning  this  thing; 
which,  till  I  may  in  part  perform,  I  desire  to  remain  unknown  and  un- 
sought after." 

This  oblation  consisted  of  a  communion-cup  with  the  cover  and 
case,  a  trencher-plate  for  the  bread,  a  carpet  of  crimson  velvet- 
and  a  linen  damask  tablecloth. 

B.  B.  MINOR,  Richmond,  Va. 


FAMILIES  OP  VIRGINIA.  123 


ARTICLE  IX. 

Eenrico  Parish. — No.  1. 

ABOUT  twelve  or  fifteen  miles  below  Richmond,  on  the  north 
sme  of  James  River,  lies  a  tract  of  land,  than  which  none,  except 
the  island  on  which  Jamestown  stood,  has  more  interest  to  a  Vir- 
ginian. It  was  the  second  settlement  in  the  Colony,  with  the 
exception  of  the  feeble  attempts  at  the  Falls  of  James  River,  at 
Nansemond,  and  Hampton.  In  the  year  1611, — four  years  after 
the  first  settlement  at  Jamestown,  and  while  that  was  just  strug- 
gling into  existence, — Sir  Thomas  Dale,  High-Marshal  of  Virginia, 
divided  the  colonists  with  Governor  Gates,  and  brought  with  him 
three  hundred  and  fifty  men,  (chiefly  German  labourers,)  and  built 
three  rows  of  houses  for  them,  a  church,  a  house  for  himself,  and 
others  for  "the  honester  sort  of  people," — that  is,  the  farmers. 
Palisadoes, — that  is,  fences, — to  be  some  guard  against  the 
Indians  and  to  keep  in  the  cattle,  and  small  watch-towers  and 
other  works,  were  put  up.  The  place  on  which  these  things  were 
erected  was  afterward  called  Farrar's  Island,  from  the  name 
of  the  mm  who  bought  it  after  the  great  massacre,  but  mis- 
named, just  as  Jamestown  was ;  for  a  narrow  neck  of  land  united 
them  both  to  the  main,  though,  in  the  case  of  Jamestown,  that 
neck  has  been  overflowed,  and  it  is  now — not  only  in  name,  but  in 
reality — an  island.  The  other,  Farrar's  Island,  is  sometimes 
called  the  Great  Bend,  because,  while  the  neck  is  only  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  yards  across,  you  must  go  seven  miles  around  by 
water  to  reach  the  opposite  point.  It  has  also  been  called  Dutch 
Gap,  because  there  are  indubitable  marks  of  the  commencement 
of  a  channel  by  the  first  Dutch  settlers  across  its  narrow  neck, 
by  which  the  water  might  be  let  through  and  thus  the  seven  miles 
of  travel  be  saved.  The  channel  was  opened  about  half-way 
across, — that  is,  about  sixty  yards, — and  then  abandoned.  A 
proposition  to  do  this  was  also  made  during  the  last  war,  but 
never  executed.  The  same  reason  probably  prevented  in  both 
instances, — viz. :  the  fear  of  injuring  the  bed  of  the  river,  or  of 
inundating  some  of  the  adjoining  lands.  Another  name  was  also 
given  to  the  settlement  in  earlier  times, — viz.:  Dale's  Gift, 


124  OLD  UHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

because  Sir  Thomas  here  first  divided  lands  to  the  colonists,  who 
hitherto  (while  at  Jamestown)  lived  in  common,  cultivating  the 
fields  on  the  island,  but  living  together  in  the.  city.  Fifty 
acres  of  fine  river-bottom  were  allotted  to  each1  family.  The 
city  was  called  Henricopolis,  or  the  City  of  Henry,  after 
Prince  Henry.  It  was  afterward  in  common  use  contracted  to 
Henrico.  There  were  probably  about  five  thousand  acres  of 
land  in  the  settlement  as  bounded  by  the  circuit  of  the  river 
and  the  long  palisadoes  which  separated  it  from  the  main-land 
on  the  north.  If  its  figure  be  compared  to  the  human  body,  the 
head  of  a  man  would  represent  the  island,  or  rather  peninsula; 
the  neck  represents  the  narrow  part  where  the  river,  after  its 
circuit,  almost  touches ;  and  then,  if  the  arms  be  a  little  raised 
from  the  body  on  each  side,  you  would  have  the  remaining  part 
of  the  settlement  extending  about  two  miles  between  the  two 
rivers,  as  they  seem  to  be.  Indeed,  the  visitor  to  this  spot,  stand- 
ing on  the  elevation  where  Henrico  City  once  stood,  may  see, 
almost  at  one  view,  what  appear  to  be  four  beautiful  rivers,  though 
only  one  in  reality.  The  effect  upon  both  mind  and  eye  is  truly 
romantic  and  worth  a  visit  from  places  far  more  distant  than 
Richmond,  though  it  is  believed  but  few  of  the  inhabitants  of  that 
city  have  ever  enjoyed  the  sight.  Let  those  who  have  any  thing 
of  the  feeling  of  an  antiquarian,  or  even  of  a  Virginian,  only  visit 
that  spot,  taking  with  them  the  account  given  of  its  first  settle- 
ment by  Captain  Smith,  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  or  any  other  of  our 
early  writers,  with  the  guidance  of  our  fellow-citizen,  Mr.  Richard 
Randolph,  who  was  born  near  it  and  lived  on  it  forty  years  ago, 
and  they  may  verify  the  accounts  on  the  ground,  may  gather  up 
some  broken  bricks,  which  have  been  worn  by  the  ploughshare  for 
one  or  two  centuries  on  the  well-known  spots  where  the  houses  of 
Sir  Thomas  Dale,  Rolph,  and  Pocahontas  once  stood.  The  corre- 
spondence between  the  ancient  account  and  the  present  appear- 
ances Mid  relics  is  too  strong  to  admit  of  a  lingering  doubt. 
Near  the  Dutch  Gap,  or  narrow  neck  separating  what  appears  to 
be  two  beautiful  rivers  only  by  a  few  paces,  stood  the  second 
church  in  Virginia  and  America,  built  immediately  on  the  landing 
of  these  Virginia  Pilgrims,  and  before  Sir  Thomas  Dale  laid  the 
foundation  of  his  own  residence.  And  this  was  only  preparatory 
to  a  much  better  one  of  brick,  whose  foundation,  Captain  Smith 
informs  us,  was  soon  laid.  Such  was  the  piety  of  our  first 
ancestors.  It  was  soon  discovered  that  another  settlement  on  the 
other  side  of  the  river — between  James  River  and  the  Appo- 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  125 

mattox — was  necessary  to  the  security  of  the  little  colony  at 
Henrico,  for  a  troublesome  tribe  of  Indians  occupied  that  narrow 
corner  between  the  two  rivers,  and  annoyed  the  colonists. 
Accordingly,  Sir  Thomas,  in  a  few  months,  divided  his  forces 
again,  drove  away  the  Indians  from  thence,  and  made  a  settle- 
ment, opposite  to  what  is  now  called  City  Point,  naming  it 
Bermuda  Hundred,  and  dividing  lands  here  also  to  the  settlers, 
and  running  a  palisado  from  river  to  river  across  another  neck. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Whittaker — of  whom  we  have  before  spoken — was 
the  minister  to  each  of  these  settlements ;  for  they  were  both 
in  one  parish  (Henrico  parish)  from  the  first,  and  for  a  long 
time,  extending  (as  did  the  county)  on  both  sides  of  James  River, 
included  what  is  now  Chesterfield  county  and  Dale  parish. 
Wherefore  Mr.  Whittaker,  in  order  to  be  convenient  to  his  whole 
parish,  chose  for  his  residence  what  is  well  known  at  this  day  as 
Rock  Hall,  on  the  southern  bank  of  James  River,  in  what  is  now 
Chesterfield,  and  opposite  to  the  lowest  part  of  the  Great  Bend. 
At  this  point  Sir  Thomas  Dale  built  him  a  parsonage  and  set 
apart  his  glebe.*  It  was  probably  in  crossing  the  river  near  his 
house,  in  order  to  visit  his  parishioners  on  the  island,  that  he  was 
drowned,  as  we  have  before  stated.  Having  referred  to  the 
residence  of  Rolph  and  Pocahontas,  it  will  be  interesting  to  point 
the  reader  and  the  visitor  to  the  very  spot,  since  it  is  clearly 
ascertained.  Mr.  Rolph's  house  and  residence  were  about  two 
miles  from  the  city  of  Henrico,  down  the  river,  where  the  court- 
house afterward  stood,  and  where  a  parsonage  and  glebe  also  were 
located.  All  these  sites  are  well  known,  and  constitute  what  was 
called  Varina. 

Before  proceeding  further  in  our  history  of  Henrico  parish,  we 
must  make  a  digression,  for  which  we  are  sure  our  readers  will 
more  than  pardon  us.  It  will  be  remembered  that,  in  our 
sketch  of  the  early  history  of  Jamestown  parish,  we  introduced 
some  things  concerning  Henrico  and  Bermuda,  alleging,  as  a 
sufficient  reason,  that  the  history  of  these  three  places  were  inti- 
mately connected  and  identified  for  some  years,  and,  indeed,  was 
the  whole  history  of  the  colony  at  that  time.  For  the  same 
reason  we  now  introduce  into  the  early  history  of  Henrico  some 
things  which  might  have  formed  a  part  of  our  notices  of  James- 


*  At  a  later  period  a  church— called  Jefferson's  Church — was  built  near  Kock 
Hall,  and  supplied  by  the  minister  from  Varina.  This  church,  or  a  part  of  it,  may 
be  still  standing. 


126  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  AND 

town,  but  which  were  not  at  that  time  in  our  possession.  It  will 
be  remembered  that,  in  speaking  of  the  marriage  of  Rolph  and 
Pocahontas  in  the  church  at  Jamestown,  we  alluded  to  a  letter  of 
the  former  to  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  in  which  he  sets  forth  all  the  per- 
plexities of  his  soul  on  that  subject  and  submitted  the  final  decision 
to  that  pious  and  noble-spirited  man.  Through  the  kindness  of  our 
worthy  citizen,  Mr.  Conway  Robinson,  of  Richmond,  I  have  pos- 
session of  that  letter,  which  he  obtained  during  a  recent  visit  to 
England,  and  here  submit  it  to  the  reader.  None  can  fail  to  per- 
ceive what  a  genuine  spirit  of  piety  and  philanthropy  breathes 
throughout  it. 


"The  coppie  of  this  Gentleman's  Letter  to  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  that  after 
married  Powhatan's  daughter,  containing  the  reasons  that  moved  him 
thereunto* 

et  HONOURABLE  SIR,  AND  MOST  WORTHY  GOVERNOR  : — When  your  lea- 
sure  shall  best  serve  you  to  peruse  these  lines,  I  trust  in  God  the  beginning 
will  not  strike  you  into  greater  admiration  than  the  end  will  give  you  good 
content.  It  is  a  matter  of  no  small  moment,  concerning  my  own  parti- 
cular, which  here  I  impart  unto  you,  and  which  toucheth  me  so  nearly 
as  the  tenderness  of  my  salvation.  Howbeit,  I  freely  subject  myself  to 
your  great  and  mature  judgment,  deliberation,  approbation,  and  determi- 
nation ;  assuring  myself  of  your  zealous  admonition  and  godly  comforts, 
either  persuading  me  to  desist,  or  encouraging  me  to  persist  therein,  with 
a  religious  fear  and  godly  care,  for  which  (from  the  very  instant  that  this 
began  to  roote  itself  within  the  secrete  bosome  of  my  breast)  my  daily 
and  earnest  praiers  have  bin,  still  are,  and  ever  shall  bee  poored  forthwith, 
in  as  sincere  a  goodly  zeal  as  I  possibly  may,  to  be  directed,  aided,  and 
governed  in  all  my  thoughts,  words,  and  deedes,  to  the-  glory  of  God  and 
for  my  eternal  consolation ;  to  persevere  wherein  I  had  never  had  more 
neede,  nor  (till  now)  could  ever  imagine  to  have  bin  moved  with  the  like 
occasion.  But  (my  case  standing  as  it  doth)  what  better  worldly  refuge 
can  I  here  seeke,  than  to  shelter  myself  under  the  safety  of  your  favour- 
able protection  ?  And  did  not  my  case  proceede  from  an  unspotted  con- 
science, I  should  not  dare  to  offer  to  your  view  and  approved  judgment 
these  passions  of  my  troubled  soule ;  so  full  of  feare  and  trembling  is 
hypocrisie  and  dissimulation.  But,  knowing  my  own  innocency  and  godly 
fervour  in  the  whole  prosecution  hereof,  I  doubt  not  of  your  benigne 
acceptance  and  clement  construction.  As  for  malicious  depravers  and 
turbulent  spirits,  to  whom  nothing  is  tasteful  but  what  pleaseth  their  un- 
savoury pallate,  I  passe  not  for  them,  being  well  assured  in  my  persuasion 
by  the  often  trial  and  proving  of  myselfe  in  my  holiest  meditations  and 
praises,  that  I  am  called  hereunto  by  the  Spirit  of  God ;  and  it  shall  be 
sufficient  for  me  to  be  protected  by  yourselfe  in  all  virtuous  and  pious 
endeavours.  And  for  my  more  happy  proceedings  herein,  my  daily  obla- 

*  This  letter  is  referred  to  in  Sir  Thomas  Dale's,  and  went  with  it  to  England. 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  127 

tions  shall  ever  be  addressed  to  bring  to  passe  to  goode  effects,  that  your- 
selfe  and  all  the  world  may  truly  say,  c  This  is  the  worke  of  God,  and  it 
is  marvellous  in  our  eies.' 

"  But  to  avoide  tedious  preambles,  and  to  come  nearer  the  matter :  first, 
suffer  with  your  patience  to  sweepe  and  make  cleane  the  way  wherein  I 
walke  from  all  suspicions  and  doubts,  which  may  be  covered  therein,  and 
faithfully  to  reveale  unto  you  what  should  move  me  hereunto. 

"  Let,  therefore,  this  my  well-advised  protestations,  which  here  I  make 
before  God  and  my  own  conscience,  be  a  sufficient  witnesse  at  the  dreadful 
day  of  judgment,  when  the  secret  of  all  living  harts  shall  be  opened,  to 
condemn  me  herein,  if  my  deepest  intent  and  purpose  be  not  to  strive 
with  all  my  power  of  body  and  minde,  in  the  undertaking  of  so  mighty  a 
matter,  for  the  good  of  this  plantation,  for  the  honour  of  our  countrie,  for 
the  glory  of  God,  for  my  own  salvation,  and  for  the  converting  to  the  true 
knowledge  of  God  and  Jesus  Christ  an  unbelieving  creature, — viz. :  Po- 
kahontas.  To  whom  my  hartie  and  best  thoughts  are  and  have  a  long 
time  bin  so  intangled  and  inthralled  in  so  intricate  a  labyrinth,  that  I  was 
even  awearied  to  unwinde  myself  thereout.  But  Almighty  God,  who 
never  faileth  his  that  truly  invocate  his  holy  name,  hath  opened  the  gate 
and  led  me  by  the  hand,  that  I  might  plainly  see  and  discerne  the  safe 
pathes  wherein  to  treade. 

"To  you,  therefore,  (most  noble  sir,)  the  patron  and  father  of  us  in  this 
countrie,  doe  I  utter  the  effects  of  this  my  settled  and  long-continued 
affection,  (which  hath  made  a  mightie  warre  in  my  meditations  j)  and 
here  I  do  truly  relate,  to  what  issue  this  dangerous  combat  is  come  unto, 
wherein  I  have  not  only  examined,  but  thoroughly  tried  and  pared  my 
thoughts,  even  to  the  quicke,  before  I  could  finde  any  fit,  wholesome,  and 
apt  applications  to  cure  so  dangerous  an  ulcer.  I  never  failed  to  offer  my 
daily  and  faithful  praiers  to  God  for  his  sacred  and  holy  assistance.  I  for- 
got not  to  set  before  mine  eies  the  frailtie  of  mankind,  his  proneness  to 
evill,  his  indulgence  of  wicked  thoughts,  with  many  other  imperfections, 
wherein  man  is  daily  insnared  and  oftentimes  overthrown,  and  them  com- 
pared to  niy  present  estate.  Nor  was  I  ignorant  of  the  heavie  displeasure 
which  Almightie  God  conceived  against  the  sonnes  of  Levie  and  Israel 
for  marrying  strange  wives,  nor  of  the  inconveniences  which  may  thereby 
arise,  with  other  the  like  good  notions,  which  made  me  look  about  warily 
and  with  good  circumspection  into  the  grounds  and  principall  agitations, 
which  thus  provoke  me  to  be  in  love  with  one  whose  education  hath  been 
rude,  her  manners  barbarous,  her  generation  accursed,  and  so  discrepant 
in  all  nurtreture  from  myself,  that  oftentimes  with  fear  and  trembling  I 
have  ended  my  private  controversie  with  this  : — l  Surely  these  are  wicked 
instigations,  hatched  by  him  who  seeketh  and  delighteth  in  man's  de- 
struction j'  and  so  with  fervent  praiers  to  be  ever  preserved  from  such 
diabolical  assaults  (as  I  tooke  those  to  be)  I  have  taken  some  rest. 

"  Thus  when  I  thought  I  had  obtained  some  peace  and  quietness, 
behold,  another  but  more  gracious  tentation  hath  made  breaches  into  my 
holiest  and  strongest  meditations,  with  which  I  have  been  put  to  a  new 
triall,  in  a  straighter  manner  than  the  former;  for  besides  the  many  pas- 
sions and  sufferings  which  I  have  daily,  hourly,  yea,  and  in  my  sleepe 
indured,  even  awaking  me  to  astonishment,  taxing  me  with  remisness  and 
carelessness,  refusing  and  neglecting  to  performe  the  duties  of  a  good 
Christian,  pulling  me  by  the  eare,  and  crying,  <  Why  dost  not  thou  indea- 
vour  to  make  her  a  Christian  ?'  And  these  have  happened  to  my  greater 


128  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

wonder  even  when  she  hath  bin  furthest  separated  from  me,  which  in 
common  reason  (were  it  not  an  undoubted  work  of  God)  might  breede 
forgetfulness  of  a  fare  more  worthy  creature.  Besides,  I  say,  the  Holy 
Spirit  hath  often  demanded  of  me,  why  I  was  created,  if  not  for  transi- 
tory pleasures  and  worldly  vanities,  but  to  labour  in  the  Lord's  vineyard, 
there  to  sow  and  plant,  to  nourish  and  increase  the  fruits  thereof,  daily 
adding,  with  the  good  husband  in  the  gospel,  somewhat  to  the  talent,  that 
in  the  end  the  fruits  may  be  reaped,  to  the  comfort  of  the  labourer  in 
this  life  and  his  salvation  in  the  world  to  come  ?  And  if  this  be,  as  un- 
doubtedly this  is,  the  service  Jesus  Christ  requireth  of  his  best  servant, 
wo  unto  him  that  hath  these  instruments  of  pietie  put  into  his  hands,  and 
wilfully  despiseth  to  worke  with  them  !  Likewise  adding  hereunto  her 
great  appearance  of  love  to  me,  her  desire  to  be  taught  and  instructed  in 
the  knowledge  of  God,  her  capablenesse  of  understanding,  her  aptness 
and  willingnesse  to  receive  anie  good  impression,  and  also  the  spirituall, 
beside  her  own  incitements  hereunto  stirring  me  up.  What  should  I  doe  ? 
Shall  I  be  of  so  untoward  a  disposition  as  to  refuse  to  leade  the  blind  into 
the  right  way  ?  Shall  I  be  so  unnaturall  as  not  to  give  bread  to  the  hun- 
grie,  or  uncharitable  as  not  to  cover  the  naked  ?  Shall  I  despise  to  ac- 
tuate these  pious  duties  of  a  Christian  ?  Shall  the  base  feare  of  displeas- 
ing the  world  overpower  and  withhold  me  from  revealing  unto  man  these 
spirituall  works  of  the  Lord,  which  in  my  meditations  and  praiers  I  have 
daily  made  known  unto  him  ?  God  forbid  !  I  assuredly  trust  he  hath 
thus  delt  with  inee  for  my  eternal  felicitie  and  for  his  glorie ;  and  I  hope 
so  to  be  guarded  by  his  heavenly  grace,  that  in  the  end,  by  my  faithfull 
praiers  and  christianlike  labour,  I  shall  attaine  to  that  blessed  promise 
pronounced  by  that  holy  prophet  Daniell  unto  the  righteous  that  bring 
many  unto  the  knowledge  of  God, — namely :  that  '  they  shall  shine  like 
the  stars  forever  and  ever.'  A  sweeter  comfort  cannot  be  to  a  true  Chris- 
tian, nor  a  greater  incouragement  to  him  to  labour  all  the  daies  of  his  life 
in  the  performance  thereof,  to  be  desired  at  the  hour  of  death  and  in  the 
day  of  judgment.  Again,  by  my  reading  and  conference  with  honest  and 
religious  persons,  have  I  received  no  small  encouragement ;  besides  mea 
screna  conscientia,  the  cleannesse  of  my  conscience,  clean  from  the  filth 
of  impurity,  quoeestmstarmuri  ahenei,  which  is  to  me  a  brazen  wall.  If 
I  should  set  down  at  large  the  perturbations  and  godly  motions  which 
have  striven  within  mee,  I  should  make  but  a  tedious  and  unnecessary 
volume.  But  I  doubt  not  these  shall  be  sufficient,  both  to  certify  you  of 
my  true  intent,  in  discharging  of  my  duties  to  God  and  to  yourselfe,  to 
whose  gracious  Providence  1  humbly  submit  myself,  for  his  glory,  your 
honour,  my  countrie's  good,  the  benefit  of  this  Plantation,  and  for  the 
converting  of  one  unregenerate  to  regeneration,  which  I  beseech  God  to 
grant  for  his  dear  Sonne  Christ  Jesus  his  sake.  Nor  am  I  in  so  desperate 
an  estate  that  I  regard  not  what  becometh  of  mee ;  nor  am  I  out  of  hope 
but  one  day  to  see  my  countrie,  nor  so  void  of  friends,  nor  mean  in  birth, 
but  there  to  obtain  a  match  to  my  great  content ;  nor  have  I  ignorantly 
passed  over  my  hopes  there,  nor  regardlessly  seek  to  lose  the  love  of  my 
friends  by  taking  this  course :  I  know  them  all,  and  have  not  rashly  over- 
slipped  any. 

"  But  shall  it  please  God  thus  to  dispose  of  me  (which  I  earnestly 
desire  to  fulfill  my  end  before  set  down)  1  will  heartily  accept  of  it,  as  a 
godly  taxe  appointed  me,  and  I  will  never  cease  (God  assisting  me)  until 
I  have  accomplished  and  brought  to  perfection  so  holy  a  worke,  in  which 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  129 

I  will  daily  pray  God  to  bless  mee,  to  mine  and  her  eternal  happiness. 
And  thus  desiring  no  longer  to  live,  to  enjoy  the  blessing  of  God,  than 
this  my  resolution  doth  tend  to  such  godly  ends,  as  are  by  me  before  de- 
clared, not  doubting  your  favourable  acceptance,  I  take  my  leave,  beseech- 
ing Almighty  God  to  rain  down  upon  you  such  plenitude  of  his  heavenly 
graces  as  your  heart  can  wish  and  desire ;  and  so  I  rest, 

"  At  your  command,  most  willingly  to  be  disposed  off, 

"JOHN  ROLPH." 


FIRST   JOURNAL   OF   THE   HOUSE   OF   DELEGATES.        , 

For  the  following  deeply-interesting  document  I  am  also  in- 
debted to  the  same  hand.  Mr.  Robinson,  in  his  careful  examina- 
tion of  papers  in  the  State  Office,  in  London,  discovered  a  manu- 
script journal  covering  thirty  pages,  in  which  are  the  proceedings 
of  a  House  of  Burgesses  held  at  Jamestown  in  1619.  It  has 
been  generally  received  and  admitted,  since  the  first  volume  of  Mr. 
Henning's  Statutes  at  Large  were  published,  that  no  account  of 
any  such  meeting  was  to  be  found  for  some  years  after  this. 

My  object  in  publishing  it  is  not  merely  to  gratify  the  curiosity 
and  promote  the  objects  of  the  historian  and  politician,  but  far 
more, — to  give  additional  weight  to  what  I  have  already  adduced  in 
proof  of  the  spirit  of  piety  which  animated  the  bosoms  of  the  first 
founders  of  the  Church  and  State  of  Virginia. 
.  None  can  read  the  following  document  without  admitting  this : — - 

"A  report  of  the  manner  of  proceeding  in  the  General  Assembly  con- 
vented  at  James  City,  in  Virginia,  July  30,  1619,  consisting  of  the  Go- 
vernor, the  Council  of  Estate,  and  two  Burgesses  elected  out  of  each 
incorporation  and  plantation,  and  being  dissolved  the  first  of  August  next 
ensuing/' 

This  is  a  document  of  the  greatest  interest  to  every  Virginian. 
It  is  very  satisfactory  to  find  that  it  is  quite  a  full  report,  em- 
bracing thirty  pages.  After  the  caption  it  proceeds  as  follows : — 

"First,  Sir  George  Yeardley,  Knight,  Governor  and  Captain-General 
of  Virginia,  having  sent  his  summons  all  over  the  country,  as  well  as  to 
invite  those  of  the  Council  of  Estate  that  were  absent,  as  also  for  the 
election  of  Burgesses,  they  were  chosen  and  appeared. 

"1st.  For  James  City—  Capt.  Wm.  Powell,  Ensign  Wm.  Spenset 

"  2nd.  For  Charles  City — Samuel  Sharpe,  James  Jordan. 

"  3rd.  For  the  City  of  Henricus — Thomas  Dowce,  John  Potintine. 

"4th.  For  Kicciotan — Captain  Wm.  Tucker,  Wm.  Capp. 

"  5th.  For  Martin  Brandon,  Captain  John  Martin's  Plantation — Mr. 
Thomas  Davis,  Robert  Stacy. 

9 


130  OLD    CHJJRCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

"6th.  For  Smyth's  Hundred — Captain  Thos.  Graves.  Mr.  Walter 
Shelley. 

"  7th.  For  Martin's  Hundred — Mr.  John  Boys,  John  Jackson. 

"  8th.  For  Argall's  Plantation — Mr.  Powlett,  Mr.  Gourgemy. 

"  9th.  For  Flour  De  Hundred — Ensign  Poppingham,  Mr.  Jefferson. 

"10th.  For  Captain  Lannis'  Plantation — Captain  Christopher  Lanne, 
Ensign  Wisher. 

"  llth.  Captain  Wirt's  Plantation — Captain  Wirt,  Lieutenant  Gibbs. 

"  The  most  convenient  place  we  could  find  to  sit  in  was  the  quire  of 
the  church  where  Sir  George  Yeardley,  the  Governor,  being  set  down  in 
his  accustomed  place,  those  of  the  Council  of  the  Estate  sat  next  him  on 
both  hands,  except  only  the  Secretary,  then  appointed  Speaker,  who  sat 
before  him.  John  Frome,  Clerk  of  the  General  Assembly,  being  placed 
next  the  Speaker,  and  Thomas  Pierce,  the  Sergeant,  standing  at  the  bar, 
to  be  ready  for  any  service  the  Assembly  should  command  him. 

"  But  for  as  much  as  men's  affairs  do  little  prosper  when  Grod's  service 
is  neglected,  all  the  Burgesses  took  their  places  in  the  quire  till  a  prayer 
was  said  by  Mr.  Bucke,  the  minister,  that  it  would  please  God  to  guide 
and  sanctify  all  our  proceedings  to  his  own  glory  and  the  good  of  this 
plantation.  Prayer  being  ended  to  the  intent  that,  as  we  had  begun  at 
Grod  Almighty,  so  we  might  proceed  with  careful  and  due  respect  towards 
his  Lieutenant,  our  most  gracious  and  dread  sovereign,  all  the  Bur- 
gesses were  instructed  to  retire  themselves  into  the  body  of  the  church, 
which,  being  done,  before  they  were  fully  admitted,  they  were  called  in 
order  and  by  name,  and  so  every  man  (none  staggering  at  it)  took  the 
oath  of  supremacy,  and  then  entered  the  assembly." 

To  the  foregoing  documents  in  proof  of  the  spirit  which  ani- 
mated the  most  devoted  friends  of  the  Colony,  I  add  a  third, 
furnished  me  by  another  true  son  of  Virginia, — Mr.  Charles  Camp- 
bell, of  Petersburg. 

In  the  records  of  the  London  Company  we  meet  with  the  name 
of  the  Earl  of  Southampton  as  the  treasurer  and  most  active 
friend  of  the  same  at  the  time  of  its  greatest  trials,  when  King 
James  and  his  ministers  were  seeking  its  destruction.  In  the  year 
1724,  their  object  was  effected  and  the  Company  summarily  dis- 
banded, all  their  papers  were  seized  upon,  and  the  Colony  taken 
under  the  sole  charge  of  Government.  The  pious,  zealous,  and 
brave  Earl  of  Southampton,  however,  never  deserted  the  cause, 
but,  in  Parliament,  boldly  advocated  such  measures  as  he  believed 
would  most  promote  the  true  welfare  of  the  Colony,  in  opposition 
to  a  corrupt  king  and  cabinet.  This  was  the  more  honourable  to 
him  from  the  relation  he  bore  to  the  king.  The  Earl  of  South- 
ampton was  the  bosom-friend  of  the  celebrated  Earl  of  Essex, 
Prime  Minister  to  Elizabeth,  and  was  somewhat  implicated  with 
him  in  that  conduct  toward  the  queen  which  brought  Essex  to 
the  scaffold.  Southampton  was  imprisoned  by  the  queen,  though 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  131 

spared  the  fate  of  Essex.  At  the  death  of  Elizabeth  and  the 
coronation  of  James,  he  was  released  from  prison  and  placed  in 
some  offices  of  honour  and  trust,  being  a  member  of  the  Privy 
Council  also.  While  thus  honoured,  in  opposition  to  the  wishes 
and  remonstrances  of  the  king,  the  earl,  true  to  the  best  interests 
of  the  Company  and  the  Colony,  accepted  the  office  of  treasurer, 
attended  all  its  meetings,  often  had  them  at  his  own  house,  and,  as 
we  have  said,  was  the.  zealous  advocate  of  all  measures  in  Parlia- 
ment calculated  to  promote  the  truest  good  of  the  Colony,  after 
the  company  was  dismissed  by  the  king.  The  true  secret  of  this 
moral  courage  was  his  fidelity  to  the  King  of  kings.  How  much 
the  following  letter  from  his  friend,  the  Earl  of  Essex,  may  have 
contributed  to  this,  we  know  not,  but  that  it  was  eminently  calcu- 
lated to  direct  his  mind  to  the  only  true  source  of  moral  greatness 
none  can  question.  It  has  been  a  long  time  since  its  publication 
in  a  London  chronicle,  and  it  is  well  worthy  of  republication  in  con- 
nection with  the  name  of  Southampton  and  the  early  history  of 
Yirginin.  Let  rue  add  that  so  high  was  the  character  of  South- 
ampton held  in  Virginia,  that  one  of  her  rivers  for  some  time  bore 
his  name,  and  one  of  her  largest  counties  still  retains  it. 

Letter  from  ike  Earl  of  Essex  to  his  friend  the  Earl  of  Southampton. 

"  MY  LORD  : — As  neither  nature  nor  custom  ever  made  me  a  man  of 
compliment,  so  now  I  shall  have  less  will  than  ever  for  to  use  such  cere- 
monies, when  I  have  left  with  Martha  to  be  solicitus  circa  multa,  and 
believe  with  Mary  unum  sufficit.  But  it  is  no  compliment  or  ceremony, 
but  a  real  and  necessary  duty  that  one  friend  oweth  to  another  in  absence, 
and  especially  at  their  leave-taking,  when,  in  man's  reason,  many  acci- 
dents may  keep  them  long  divided,  or  perhaps  bar  them  ever  meeting  till 
they  meet  in  another  world ;  for  then  shall  I  think  that  my  friend,  whose 
honour,  whose  person,  and  whose  fortune  is  dear  unto  me,  shall  prosper 
and  be  happy  wherever  he  goes,  and  whatever  he  takes  in  hand,  when  he 
is  in  the  favour  of  that  God  under  whose  protection  there  is  only  safety, 
and  in  whose  service  there  is  only  true  happiness  to  be  found.  What  I 
think  of  your  natural  gifts  or  ability,  in  this  age  ,or  in  this  State,  to  give 
glory  to  God  and  to  win  honour  to  yourself,  if  you  employ  the  talents  you 
have  received  to  their  best  use,  I  will  not  now  tell  you ;  it  sufficeth  that 
when  I  was  farthest  of  all  times  from  dissembling  I  spake  truly  and 
have  witness  enough.  But  these  things  only  I  will  put  your  lordship  in 
mind  of. 

"  1.  That  you  have  nothing  that  you  have  not  received. 

"2.  That  you  possess  them  not  as  lord  over  them,  but  as  an  accountant 
for  them. 

"3.  If  you  employ  them  to  serve  this  world,  or  your  own  worldly  de- 
lights, which  the  prince  of  this  world  will  seek  to  entertain  you  with,  it 
is  ingratitude,  it  is  injustice,  yea,  it  is  perfidious  treachery. 


132  OLD   CHURCHES,   MlfflSTERS,  AND 

"'  For  what  would  you  think  of  such  a  servant  of  yours  that  should 
convert  your  goods,  committed  to  his  charge,  to  the  advantage  or  service  of 
your  greatest  enemy;  and  what  do  you  less  than  this  with  God,  since  you 
have  all  from  him,  and  know  that  the  world  and  prince  thereof  are  at  con- 
tinual enmity  with  him  ?  And  therefore,  if  ever  the  admonition  of  your 
truest  friend  shall  be  heard  by  you,  or  if  your  country  which  you  may 
serve  in  so  great  and  many  things  be  dear  unto  you ;  if  God,  whom  you 
must  (if  you  deal  truly  with  yourself)  acknowledge  to  be  powerful  over 
all,  and  just  in  all,  be  feared  by  you;  yea,  if  you  be  dear  unto  yourself 
and  prefer  an  everlasting  happiness  before  a  pleasant  dream,  which  you 
must  shortly  awake  out  of  and  then  repent  in  the  bitterness  of  your  soul ; 
if  any  of  these  things  be  regarded  by  you,  then,  I  say,  call  yourself  to 
account  for  what  is  past,  cancel  all  the  leagues  you  have  made  without  the 
warrant  of  a  religious  conscience,  make  a  resolute  covenant  with  your  God 
to  serve  him  with  all  your  natural  and  spiritual,  inward  and  outward  gifts 
and  abilities,  and  then  He  that  is  faithful  and  cannot  lie  hath  promised  to 
honour  them  that  honour  him;  He  will  give  you  that  inward  peace  of  soul 
and  true  joy  of  heart  which,  till  you  have,  you  shall 'never  rest,  and  that, 
when  you  have,  you  shall  never  be  shaken,  and  which  you  can  never  attain 
to  any  other  way  than  this  that  I  have  showed  you. 

u  I  know  your  lordship  may  say  to  yourself  and  object  to  me,  This  is 
but  a  vapour  of  melancholy  and  the  style  of  a  prisoner;  and  that  I  was 
far  enough  from  it  when  I  lived  in  the  world  as  you  do  now,  and  may  be 
so  again  when  my  fetters  be  taken  from  me.  I  answer,  though  your 
lordship  should  think  so,  yet  cannot  I  distrust  the  goodness  of  my  God, 
that  his  mercy  will  fail  me  or  his  grace  forsake  me.  I  have  so  deeply 
engaged  myself,  that  I  should  be  one  of  the  most  miserable  apostates 
that  ever  was ;  I  have  so  avowed  my  profession  and  called  so  many  from 
time  to  time  to  witness  it  and  to  be  watchmen  over  me,  that  I  should  be 
the  hollowest  hypocrite  that  ever  was  born.  But  though  I  should  perish 
in  my  own  sin,  and  draw  upon  myself  my  own  damnation,  should  not  you 
take  hold  of  the  grace  and  mercy,  in  God,  which  is  offered  unto  you,  and 
make  your  profit  of  my  fearful  and  wretched  example  ?  I  was  longer  a 
slave  and  servant  to  the  world  and  the  corruptions  of  it  than  you  have 
been,  and  therefore  could  hardly  be  drawn  from  it.  I  had  many  calls, 
and  answered  some  of  them, — slowly  thinking  a  soft  pace  fast  enough 
to  come  to  Christ,  and  myself  forward  enough  when  I  saw  the  end  of  my 
journey,  though  I  arrived  not  at  it ;  and  therefore  I  have  been,  by  God's 
providence,  violently  pulled,  hauled,  and  dragged  to  the  marriage-feast, 
as  the  world  hath  seen.  It  was  just  with  God  to  afflict  me  in  this  world, 
that  he  might  give  me  joy  in  another.  I  had  too  much  knowledge  when 
I  performed  too  little  obedience,  and  I  was,  therefore,  to  be  beaten  with 
double  stripes.  God  grant  your  lordship  may  feel  the  comfort  I  now 
enjoy  in  my  unfeigned  conversion,  but  that  you  may  never  feel  the 
torments  I  have  suffered  for  my  too  long  delaying  it !  I  had  none  but 
divines  to  call  upon ;  to  whom  I  said,  if  my  ambition  could  have  entered 
into  their  narrow  hearts,  they  would  not  have  been  so  humble ;  or,  if  my 
delights  had  been  tasted  by  them,  they  could  not  have  been  so  precise. 
But^your  lordship  hath  one  to  call  on  you,  that  knows  what  it  is  you  now 
enjoy,  and  what  the  greatest  fruit  and  end  is  of  all  the  contentments  that 
this  world  can  afford.  Think,  therefore,  dear  earl,  that  I  have  staked 
and  buoyed  all  the  ways  of  pleasure  to  you,  and  left  them  as  sea-marks, 
for  you  to  keep  the  channel  of  religious  virtue  :  for,  shut  your  eyes  never 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  133 

BO  long,  they  must  be  open  at  last;  and  then  you  must  say  with  me,  There 
is  no  peace  to  the  wicked. 

"  I  will  make  a  covenant  with  my  soul,  not  to  suffer  my  eyes  to  sleep  in 
the  night,  nor  my  thoughts  to  attend  the  first  business  of  the  day,  till  I 
have  prayed  to  my  God,  that  your  lordship  may  believe  and  make  profit 
of  this  plain  but  faithful  admonition;  and  then  I  know  your  country  and 
friends  shall  be  happy  in  you,  and  yourself  successful  in  all  you  take  in 
hand,  which  shall  be  an  unspeakable  comfort  to 

"  Your  lordship's  cousin  and  true  friend, 

"  whom  no  worldly  cause  can  divide  from  you, 

"  ESSEX." 


134  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 


ARTICLE  X. 

Henrico  Parish. — No.  2. 

WE  introduce  this  second  article  by  the  following  extract  from  a 
pamphlet  of  Alexander  Whittaker,  the  first  minister  of  Henrico 
parish.  It  was  written  in  the  year  1613.  The  account  he  gives 
of  the  Indian  character  has  a  bearing  on  that  sad  catastrophe 
which  at  an  early  period  marred  the  fair  prospects  of  Henrico 
College,  and  which,  but  for  it,  might  have  been  the  William  and 
Mary  of  Virginia. 


"TRACTATE  BY  MASTER  ALEXANDER  WHITTAKER,  WRITTEN  AT 
HENRICO,  1613. 

"  They  (the  Indians)  acknowledge  that  there  is  a  great  good  God,  but 
know  him  not,  having  the  eyes  of  their  understanding  as  yet  blinded ; 
wherefore  they  serve  the  Divell  for  feare,  after  a  most  base  manner,  sacri- 
ficing sometimes  (as  I  have  hearde)  their  own  children  to  him.  I  have 
sent  one  image  of  their  god  to  the  Council  in  England,  which  is  painted 
on  one  side  of  a  toadestoole,  much  like  unto  a  deformed  monster.  Their 
priests  (whom  they  call  Quickosoughs)  are  no  other  but  such  as  our  Eng- 
lish witches  are.  They  live  naked  in  body,  as  if  their  shame  of  their 
sinne  deserved  no  covering.  Their  names  are  as  naked  as  their  body: 
they  esteem  it  a  vertue  to  lye,  deceive,  and  steale,  as  their  master  the  Di- 
vell teacheth  them. 

11  Their  men  are  not  so  simple  as  some  have  supposed  them,  for  they  are 
of  body  lusty,  strong,  and  very  nimble  j  they  are  a  vety  understanding 
generation, — quicke  of  apprehension,  sudden  in  their  despatches,  subtile  in 
their  dealings,  exquisite  in  their  intentions,  and  industrious  in  their  labour. 
I  suppose  the  world  hath  no  better  marksmen  than  they  be  :  they  will  kill 
birds  flying,  fishes  swimming,  and  beasts  running.  They  shoote  also  with 
rnarvailous  strength  :  they  shot  one  of  our  men,  being  unarmed,  quite 
through  the  body  and  nailed  both  his  arms  to  his  body  with  one  arrow ; 
one  of  their  children  also,  about  the  age  of  twelve  or  thirteen  years,  killed 
a  bird  with  his  arrow,  in  my  sight.  The  service  of  their  god  is  answerable 
to  their  life,  being  performed  with  great  feare  and  attention,  and  many 
strange  dumb  shewes  used  in  the  same,  stretching  forth  their  limbs  and 
straining  their  body,  much  like  to  the  counterfeit  women  in  England,  ^bo 
fancie  themselves  bewitched  or  possessed  of  some  evil  spirit.  They  stand 
in  great  awe  of  the  Quickosoughs  or  priests,  which  are  a  generation  of 
vipers,  even  Satan's  own  brood.  The  manner  of  their  life  is  much  like 
to  the  Popish  hermits  of  our  age ;  for  they  live  alone  in  the  woods,  in 
houses  sequestered  from  the  common  course  of  men  •  neither  may  any 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  135 

man  be  suffered  to  come  into  their  house,  or  speake  to  them,  but  when  the 
priest  doth  call  him. 

"  He  taketh  no  care  for  his  victuals ;  for  all  such  kind  of  things,  both 
bread  and  water,  &c.,  are  brought  into  a  place  neare  his  cottage  and  there 
left,  which  he  fetcheth  for  his  proper  needs.  If  they  would  have  raine, 
or  have  lost  any  thing,  they  have  recourse  to  him,  who  conjureth  for  them 
and  many  times  prevaileth.  If  they  be  sick,  he  is  their  physician ;  if 
they  be  wounded,  he  sucketh  them.  At  his  command  they  make  warre 
and  peace ;  neither  doe  they  any  thing  of  moment  without  him.  Finally, 
there  is  a  civil  government  among  them  which  they  strictly  observe,  and 
show  thereby  that  the  law  of  nature  dwelleth  in  them ;  for  they  have  a 
rude  kinde  of  commonwealth  and  rough  government,  wherein  they  both 
honour  and  obey  their  king,  parents,  and  governors,  both  greater  and 
lesser.  They  observe  the  limits  of  their  own  possessions.  Murther  is 
scarcely  heard  of  \  adultery  and  other  offences  severely  punished." 

We  follow  this  sketch  of  the  Indian  character  by  stating  that 
the  efforts  of  Mr.  Whittaker  and  others,  and  all  the  acts  of  the 
Company  and  Colony,  seemed  to  have  produced  some  effect  on  the 
natives,  and  to  promise  friendly  relations  with  them.  This  pros- 
pect was  brightened  by  the  marriage  of  Rolph  and  Pocahontas. 
Even  after  her  death,  in  1617,  a  letter  is  written  to  the  Company, 
saying,  "Powhatan  goes  about  visiting  his  country,  taking  his 
pleasure,  in  good  friendship  with  us ;  sorry  for  the  death  of  his 
daughter,  but  glad  her  son  is  living.  So  docs  Opechancanough. 
They  both  wish  to  see  the  boy,  but  do  not  wish  him  to  come  to 
Virginia  until  he  is  a  man."*  But,  even  at  this  time,  it  is  to  be 
feared  that  the  perfidious  Indians  were  meditating  war. 

We  now  proceed  with  the  history  of  the  College  and  parish. 

We  have  already  stated,  in  one  of  our  articles  on  Jamestown, 


*  Even  as  late  as  1641  the  boy  Thomas  Rolph  asks  and  obtains  leave  of  the 
Assembly  to  visit  his  uncle,  Opechancanough.  There  is  a  document  in  the  records 
of  the  Virginia  Company  of  the  7th  of  October,  1622,  which  is  worthy  of  insertion 
here.  It  appears  that  Mr.  John  Eolph,  after  returning  to  Virginia  in  1617,  mar- 
ried again  and  had  other  children,  and  that  he  died  in  or  before  1622,  leaving  a 
widow  and  children.  Mr.  Henry  Rolph,  brother  of  John  Rolph,  addresses  a  peti- 
tion to  the  House  of  Burgesses,  "desiring  the  estate  his  brother  John  Rolph,  de- 
ceased, left  in  Virginia,  might  be  enquired  out  and  converted  to  the  best  use  for 
the  maintenance  of  his  relict  wife  and  children,  and  for  his  indemnity,  (having 
brought  up  the  child  his  said  brother  had  by  the  daughter  of  Powhatan,  which  is 
yet  living  and  in  his  custody.)  It  was  therefore  ordered  that  the  Governor  and 
Council  in  Virginia  should  cause  inquiry  to  be  made  what  lands  and  goods  the  said 
Rolph  died  seized  of,  and  in  case  it  should  be  found  that  the  said  Rolph  made  no 
will,  then  to  take  such  order  for  the  petitioner's  indemnity,  and  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  said  children  and  his  relict  wife,  as  they  shall  find  his  estate  will  beare,  (his 
debts  unto  the  Company  and  others  being  satisfied,)  and  return  unto  the  Company 
an  account  of  their  proceedings." 


136  OLD   CHIJRCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

that  about  the  year  1619  it  was  determined  to  establish  a  College 
at  Henrico,  and  that  liberal  contributions  were  made  in  England 
for  that  purpose.  A  pious  and  philanthropic  man,  a  good  scholar, 
a  warm  and  confiding  friend  of  the  Indians,  Mr.  George  Thorpe, 
was  actually  engaged  in  superintending  all  the  preparatory  opera- 
tions. How  far  they  had  advanced  when  the  great  massacre  in 
1622  occurred,  and  in  which  Mr.  Thorpe  and  so  many  others  were 
killed  and  the  city  either  destroyed  or  greatly  injured,  we  have  no 
means  of  ascertaining.  We  have  reason  to  believe  that  some  un- 
successful attempts  were  afterward  made ;  but  neither  the  city  nor 
the  College  ever  recovered  from  this  disastrous  blow. 

Large  tracts  of  land,  called  the  College  lands  and  the  Com- 
pany's lands,  to  the  amount  of  fifteen  thousand  acres,  had  been 
set  apart  on  both  sides  of  the  river  for  the  purpose  of  promoting 
the  College  and  settlement.  Between  one  and  two  hundred  la- 
bourers were  imported  to  cultivate  them.  One  hundred  young 
women,  of  good  character,  were  ordered  over  to  be  wives  to  the 
workmen  here  and  elsewhere.  Eighty  of  them  actually  came. 
The  massacre  fell  heavily  on  them  upon  both  sides  of  the  river. 
Despairing  of  success,  at  length  the  lands  were  otherwise  dis- 
posed of. 

We  are  informed,  by  one  of  the  descendants,  that  Mr.  William 
Randolph  bought  at  one  time  the  whole  of  Sir  Thomas  Dale's  set- 
tlement, amounting  to  five  thousand  acres  of  land,  and  as  much 
more  of  other  persons,  reaching  down  to  Four-Mile  Creek,  on 
James  River.  The  two  settlements  of  Varina  and  Curls,  so  long 
the  property  and  abodes  of  the  Randolphs,  were  on  this  estate. 
The  estate  of  Bacon,  the  rebel,  once  formed  a  part  of  this  tract, 
and  there  are  still  some  remauis  of  the  fort  which  he  erected  when 
contending  with  the  Indians.  The  estate  called  Varina,  which 
continued  longest  in  possession  of  the  Randolphs,  was  so  called 
from  a  place  of  that  name  in  Spain,  because  the  tobacco  raised  at 
both  places  so  resembled  each  other  in  flavour. 

As  to  the  ministers  and  churches,  we  have  seen  that  Mr.  Whit- 
taker,  who  died  in  1619,  ministered  to  the  people  at  Henricopolis 
and  at  Bermuda  Hundred.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Wickam,  and  he  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Stockam.  After  these  we  have 
no  authentic  account  of  any  minister  until  the  time  of  the  Rev. 
James  Blair,  who  settled  here  in  1685,  and  was  the  rector  until 
the  year  1694,  when  he  went  to  Jamestown  and  became  Commis- 
sary and  President  of  the  College  of  William  and  Mary.  The 
next  account  we  have  of  the  parish  is  in  the  year  1724,  in  an 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  137 

answer  to  the  circular  of  the  Bishop  of  London ;  but  unfortunately 
the  name  of  the  minister  is  cut  off  from  the  manuscript  which  is 
before  us,  and  we  can  only  give  the  report  itself.  The  minister 
(whose  name  is  lost)  had  been  in  the  parish  fourteen  years ;  that 
is,  since  1710.  There  were  two  churches  and  one  chapel.  The 
parish  was  eighteen  miles  by  twenty-five.  There  were  eleven  hun- 
dred tithables  and  four  hundred  families  in  it.  The  masters  do 
nothing  for  their  servants,  but  let  some  of  them  now  and  then  go 
to  church.  One  or  two  hundred  persons  are  sometimes  at  church* 
The  families  are  so  distant  that  it  is  difficult  to  have  the  children 
brought  to  catechism,  and  when  they  grow  to  any  bigness  they  do 
not  like  to  be  publicly  catechized.  The  teachers  and  parents  do 
whatever  is  done  in  that  way.  There  was  no  public  school  for 
youth.  There  were  only  about  twenty  communicants  at  a  time, 
when  the  sacrament  was  administered. 

The  same  evil  is  complained  of  here  as  is  often  elsewhere.  The 
large  estates  on  the  river  separate  the  families,  so  that  it  is  difficult 
to  get  to  church.  It  is  so  to  this  day  along  our  rivers.  Where 
the  two  churches  and  the  chapel  were  at  that  time,  we  are  at  a  loss 
to  tell.  Perhaps  one  may  still  have  been  at  Henricopolis,  the  first 
settlement  by  Sir  Thomas  Dale.  After  a  time,  one  was  built  by 
the  first  of  the  Richard  Randolphs,  which  was  called  sometimes 
Four-Mile  Creek  Church,  sometimes  Curls  Church,  as  it  lay  between 
these  places.  Whether  there  was  a  chapel  at  that  time  at  the 
Falls — that  is,  Richmond — is  not  certainly  known,  but  is  probable. 
At  a  later  period,  the  minister  officiated  alternately  at  the  Four- 
Mile  Creek  Church,  or  Curls  Church,  on  the  north  side  of  James 
River,  and  at  a  church  on  the  south  side,  near  Rock  Hall,  called 
Jefferson's  Church. 

This  was  the  case  in  the  time  of  Mr.  Stith,  who  wrote  his  His- 
tory about  the  year  1740,  at  Varina,  when  he  was  minister  of 
Henrico  parish.  He  removed  to  Williamsburg  to  preside  over  the 
College  in  the  year  1752.*  The  building  of  the  church  at  Four- 

*  William  Stith  was  the  only  son  of  Captain  John  Stith,  of  the  county  of  Charles 
City,  and  of  Mary,  a  daughter  of  "  William  Randolph,  gentleman,"  of  Turkey 
Island,  in  the  adjoining  county,  Henrico,  in  the  Colony  of  Virginia :  their  son  Wil- 
liam was  born  in  the  year  1689.  On  the  death  of  her  husband,  Mrs.  Stith,  at  the 
instance  of  her  brother,  Sir  John  Randolph,  removed  to  Williamsburg  and  placed 
her  son  in  the  grammar-school  attached  to  the  College  of  William  and  Mary,  where 
he  pursued  his  academic  studies  and  graduated.  His  theological  studies  were  com- 
pleted in  England,  where  he  was  ordained  a  minister  in  the  Episcopal  Church.  On 
his  return  to  Virginia,  in  the  year  1731,  he  was  elected  master  of  the  grammar- 
school  in  the  College  and  chaplain  to  the  House  of  Burgesses.  In  June,  1738,  he 


138  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

Mile  Creek,  or  Curls,  is  clearly  ascertained,  as  to  the  time  and  the 
erection  of  it,  by  an  extract  from  a  letter  of  the  eldest  Richard 
Randolph,  of  Curls,  to  his  son  Richard,  in  1748,  in  which  he  says, 
"  Pray  assist  Wilkinson  all  you  can  in  getting  the  church  finished, 
and  get  the  shells  that  will  be  wanted  carted  before  the  roads  get 
bad.  The  joiner  can  inform  you  what  shells  I  have  at  the  Falls. 
If  more  are  wanted  you  must  get  them."  Some  thirty  or  forty 
years  ago,  when  this  church  was  without  Episcopal  services,  a  man 
claimed  it,  and  declared  his  intention  to  take  it,  when  a  great- 
grandson  of  old  Mr.  Randolph,  of  the  same  name,  repaired  to  the 
place,  and  informed  him  that  as  soon  as  he  touched  it  he  would 
have  him  arrested.  The  desired  effect  was  produced.  It  has, 
however,  now  disappeared ;  and  none,  I  believe,  bearing  the  name 
of  Randolph,  owns  a  rood  of  that  immense  tract  of  land  on  which 
their  fathers  once  lived.* 


was  called  as  rector  to  Henrico  parish,  in  the  county  of  Henrico.  He  married  his 
cousin  Judith,  a  daughter  of  Thomas  Randolph,  of  Tuckahoe,  the  second  son.  of 
William  Randolph,  of  Turkey  Island,  and  resided  in  the  parsonage  on  the  glebe 
near  Varina,  the  seat  of  justice  for  the  county  of  Henrico.  There  he  wrote  his 
History  of  Virginia,  which  was  printed  and  bound  in  the  city  of  Williamsburg,  at 
the  only  printing-press  then  in  the  Colony.  In  August,  1752,  he  was  elected  Pre- 
sident of  William  and  Mary  College,  to  which  he  removed  and  over  which  he 
presided  until  his  death,  in  1755. 

*  The  connection  of  so  many  of  the  Randolphs,  not  only  with  the  Episcopal 
Church,  but  ministry,  both  in  England  and  America,  merits  some  special  notice  of 
the  family.  It  shall  be  very  brief  by  comparison  with  the  numbers  and  respect- 
ability of  it.  I  leave  it  to  some  one  of  the  name  to  trace  back  its  history  through 
the  Church  and  State  in  England,  and  through  the  numerous  branches  which  have 
spread  themselves  over  Virginia  and  other  parts  of  our  land.  I  only  abridge  some 
of  the  genealogies  placed  in  my  hands,  by  giving  a  list  of  some  of  the  earliest  of 
the  family,  from  whom  all  others  have  proceeded.  The  first  of  the  name  who 
settled  in  Virginia,  Mr.  William  Randolph,  became  possessed  of  the  large  estate  on 
James  River  called  Turkey  Island,  bordering  on  Charles  City,  to  which  he  added 
numerous  other  estates,  on  which  he  settled  his  sons,  building  excellent  houses  for 
all  of  them.  He  married  Miss  Mary  Isham,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Catherine 
Isham,  of  Bermuda  Hundred,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river. 

They  had  seven  sons  and  two  daughters.  1st,  William,  of  Turkey  Island,  who 
married  Miss  Beverly,  of  Gloucester.  2d.  Thomas,  of  Tuckahoe,  who  married 
Miss  Flemming.  3d.  Isham,  of  Dungeness,  who  married  a  Miss  Rojers,  of  Eng- 
land. 4th.  Richard,  of  Curls,  who  married  a  Miss  Boiling,  descendant  of  Poca- 
hontas.  5th.  Henry,  who  died  without  issue.  6th.  Sir  John  Randolph,  of  Wil- 
liamsburg, who  married  Miss  Beverly,  sister  of  his  brother  William's  wif*.  7th. 
Edward,  who  married  an  \eiress  in  England, — a  Miss  Groves.  He  was  a  captain 
of  a  ship.  Some  of  his  children  settled  in  England  and  some  in  Virginia.  Two  of 
his  daughters  married  the  Revs.  William  and  Robert  Yates,  of  Gloucester  county. 
A  third  married  William  Stith,  and  was  the  mother  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Stith,  the  his- 
torian of  Virginia,  minister  of  Henrico,  and  afterward  President  of  William  and 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  139 

To  proceed  with  the  history  of  the  ministers  of  Henrico  parish : 
we  find,  on  the  lists  of  the  clergy  in  Virginia,  that  the  Rev.  Miles 

Mary  College.  His  sister  married  Commissary  Dawson,  and  he  himself  married 
Miss  Judith  Randolph,  of  Tuckahoe.  Another  of  the  family  married  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Keith,  who  settled  in  Fauquier,  and  was  the  ancestor  of  Judge  Marshall.  Another 
married  Mr.  Anthony  Walke,  of  Norfolk  county,  and  was  the  mother  of  the  Rev. 
Anthony  Walke,  of  that  county.  To  their  connection  with  the  sanctuary  in  Vir- 
ginia may  be  added  one  in  our  Mother-Church  of  which  the  family  may  well  be 
proud.  Bishop  Randolph,  of  the  latter  part  of  the  last  century,  was  frst  Arch- 
deacon of  Jersey,  then  Bishop  of  Oxford,  and  then  of  London,  in  all  which  stations 
he  was  most  highly  esteemed.  His  collection  of  tracts  for  the  benefit  of  young  stu- 
dents for  the  ministry  show  him  to  have  been  a  Bishop  of  sound  doctrines  and  of  a 
truly  catholic  spirit.  As  to  piety  and  active  zeal,  he  is  thought  to  have  been  consi- 
derably in  advance  of  the  generality  of  the  Bishops  of  his  day.  It  may  not  be 
amiss  to  state  that  Thomas  Randolph,  the  poet,  of  England,  was  uncle  to  William 
Randolph,  of  Turkey  Island,  and  that  the  nephew  is  said  to  have  possessed  something 
of  his  poetic  genius.  We  must  here  stop,  and  only  say  that  the  family  of  Ran- 
dolphs is  henceforth  to  be  found  mixed  up  with  the  Beverlys,  Harrisons,  Jennings, 
Lees,  Grymes,  Wormleys,  Nelsons,  Burwells,  Lightfoots,  Boilings,  Spotwoods, 
Pages,  Singletons,  Flemings,  Berkeleys,  Stiths,  Carys,  Jeffersons,  Carrs,  Pleasants, 
Meades,  Hackleys,  Woods,  Mumfords,  Armsteads,  and  others,  known  and  unknown 
and  too  numerous  to  mention. 

I  add  the  following  brief  account  from  Campbell's  History  of  Virginia : — "Several 
of  the  sons  of  the  first  William  Randolph,  of  Turkey  Island,  father  of  the  family  in 
Virginia,  were  men  of  distinction.  William  was  a  member  of  the  Council  and  Trea- 
surer of  the  Colony.  Isham  was  member  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  in  1740,  from 
Goochland,  and  Adjutant-General  of  the  Colony.  Richard  was  a  member  of  the  House 
of  Burgesses  in  1740,  from  Henrico,  and  succeeded  his  brother  as  Treasurer.  Sir 
John  was  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  and  Attorney-General.  Peter,  son 
of  the  second  William  Randolph,  was  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  and  Attor- 
ney-General. Peyton,  son  of  Sir  John,  was  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Burgesses 
and  President  of  the  first  Congress  held  at  Philadelphia.  Thomas  Mann  Randolph, 
great-grandson  of  William,  of  Turkey  Island,  was  a  member  of  the  Virginia  Con- 
vention in  1775,  from  Goochland.  Beverly  Randolph  was  member  of  the  Assembly 
from  Cumberland,  during  the  Revolution,  and  Governor  of  Virginia.  Robert  Ran- 
dolph, son  of  Peter,  Richard  Randolph,  grandson  of  Peter,  and  David  Meade  Ran  • 
dolph,  grandson  of  the  second  Richard,  of  Curls,  were  cavalry-officers  in  the  Revo- 
lution. David  Meade  Randolph  was  Marshal  of  Virginia.  John  Randolph,  of 
Roanoke,  member  of  Congress  and  minister  to  Russia,  was  grandson  of  the  first 
Richard.  Thomas  Mann  Randolph,  Jr.,  was  member  of  Congress,  of  the  Legisla- 
ture of  Virginia,  and  Governor  of  Virginia."  To  this  we  add,  that  Edmund  Ran- 
dolph was  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States  and  Governor  of  Virginia,  besides 
holding  other  offices. 

Mr.  Campbell  remarks  that  the  members  of  the  numerous  families  of  the 
Randolphs,  in  several  instances,  adopted  the  names  of  their  seats,  for  purposes  of 
distinction,  as,  Thomas  of  Tuckahoe,  Isham  of  Dungeness,  Richard  of  Curls,  John 
of  Roanoke.  The  following  were  the  seats  of  the  Randolphs  on  James  River. 
Tuckahoe,  Dungeness,  Chattsworth,  Wilton,  Varina,  Curls,  Bremo,  Turkey  Island. 
In  a  work  on  the  old  families,  &c.  of  the  Church  in  Virginia,  the  above  is  not  too 
mucli  for  one,  whose  branches  have,  with  few  exceptions,  been  so  steadfast  to  her, 
and  some  of  whom  have  contributed  so  liberally  to  her  support,  as  old  Mr.  Richard 


140  OLD  CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  AND 

Selden  was  minister  in  1*758  and  also  in  1776,  from  which  we 
infer  that  he  was  the  minister  from  1758  to  1776;  how  long  before 
1758  or  after  1776,  does  not  appear.  Nor  have  I  been  able  to 
ascertain  any  thing  particular  concerning  him.* 

HENRICO   PARISH   AFTER   THE   REVOLUTION. 

Previous  to  the  Revolution,  it  is  probable  that  the  families  of  the 
Randolphs  at  Turkey  Island,  Curls,  Varina,  Wilton,  and  Chatts- 
worth,  with  a  few  others  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  old  settle- 
ment of  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  formed  the  main  strength  of  the  Epis- 
copal Church  in  Henrico,  and  that  the  ministers  resided  at  the 
parsonage  and  on  the  glebe  at  Yarina.  But  the  scene  will  now 
be  changed  to  Richmond,  which,  though  still  a  very  small  place, 
became  the  seat  of  government  during  the  war.f 

Randolph,  of  Curls,  Mr.  Thomas  Mann  Randolph,  of  Tuckahoe,  and  Colonel 
Robert  Randolph,  of  Fauquier. 

*  I  have  obtained  the  following  notice  of  the  Rev.  Wm.  Selden,  a  relative  of  Mr. 
Miles  Selden: — "The  Rev.  Wm.  Selden  was  son  of  John  Selden  and  Grace  Rose- 
well,  and  grandson  of  the  first  of  the  name  who  came  to  Virginia,  about  1690,  and 
settled  in  the  Northern  Neck.  Wm.  Selden  was  born  in  1741,  was  educated  at  Wil- 
liam and  Mary  College,  studied  law  and  practised  it  some  years.  Disliking  the 
profession,  he  studied  for  the  ministry,  and  went  to  London,  where  he  was  ordained 
in  1771.  Returning  to  Virginia,  he  became  the  minister  of  Elizabeth  parish.  He 
continued  in  charge  of  this  pai'ish  until  a  short  time  before  his  death.  He  married 
Mary  Ann  Hancock,  of  Princess  Ann  county,  by  whom  he  had  many  children,  two 
only  of  whom  grew  up  and  had  issue, — viz. :  Dr.  W.  B.  Selden,  of  Norfolk,  only 
two  of  whose  sons  survive,  viz.,  Dr.  Wm.  Selden,  of  Norfolk,  and  Robert  Selden, 
of  Gloucester,  two  others,  Dr.  Henry  Selden  and  Miss  Susan  Selden,  having  fallen 
victims  to  the  late  epidemic  in  Norfolk.  Mrs.  Bagnal,  the  other  child  of  the  Rev. 
W.  Selden  who  left  issue,  has  now  living  two  children, — Mrs.  Mary  Grace,  of  Glou- 
cester, and  W.  D.  Bagnal,  of  Norfolk.  The  Rev.  Miles  Selden,  of  Henrico,  was 
the  son  of  Joseph,  the  youngest  son  of  the  first  settler,  and,  consequently,  the  first- 
cousin  of  the  Rev.  Wm.  Selden."  From  their  continuance  during  their  ministry  in 
the  parishes  which  called  them,  and  other  considerations,  we  have  reason  to  believe 
that  they  were  both  exemplary  men. 

f  The  following  account  of  Richmond  at  this  time  is  from  the  papers  of  Mrs. 
Calonel  Carrington,  from  which  I  have  already  borrowed  so  largely,  and,  I  am  sure, 
so  acceptably  to  my  readers  :— 

"RICHMOND  AT  THE  TIME  OF  THE  REMOVAL  OF  THE  SEAT  OF  GOVERNMENT  THI- 
THER.—It  is  indeed  a  lovely  situation,  and  may  at  some  future  period  be  a  great 
city,  but  at  present  it  will  afford  scarce  one  comfort  of  life.  With  the  exception  of 
two  or  three  families,  this  little  to-wn  is  made  up  of  Scotch  factors,  who  inhabit 
small  tenements  here  and  there  from  the  river  to  the  hill,  some  of  which  looking— 
as  Colonel  Marshal  (afterward  Judge  Marshal)  observes— as  if  the  poor  Caledo- 
nians had  brought  them  over  on  their  backs,  the  weaker  of  whom  were  glad  to  stop 
at  the  bottom  of  the  hill ;  others  a  little  stronger  proceeded  higher ;  while  a  few  of 
the  stoutest  and  boldest  reached  the  summit,  which,  once  accomplished,  affords  a 
situation  beautiful  and  picturesque.  One  of  these  hardy  Scots  has  thought  proper 


ST.     JOHN'S     CHURCH,     RICHMOND,     V  A. 


FAMILIES   OP  VIRGINIA.  141 

St.  John's  Church,  on  Richmond  Hill,  whose  age  we  are  unable 
to  ascertain,  had  been  the  sanctuary  of  patriotism,  as  well  as  of 
religion,  more  than  once  before  and  during  the  war,  in  which  the 
voices  of  our  Randolphs,  Lees,  Henrys,  and  Masons  roused  the 
citizens  to  arms.  Beneath  it,  on  the  river  Powhatan,  (the  ancient 
name  of  James  River,  and  which  ought  never  to  have  been 
changed,)  lay  the  spot  where  the  old  King  Powhatan  sometimes 
held  his  court  when  warring  with  the  fierce  Monacans  or  Mana- 
kins,  who  never  allowed  him  to  extend  his  conquests  above  the 
Falls.  Although  it  is  clearly  shown  that  Pocahontas  was  born  and 
trained  at  a  place  far  distant  from  this,  and  baptized  and  married 
at  Jamestown,  and  though  it  is  all  a  fable  that  it  was  here  she 
rescued  the  gallant  Smith,  yet,  during  her  residence  with  Rolph 
at  Henricopolis,  she  may  have  visited  the  spot  before  any  Chris- 
tian church  was  reared  on  its  brows. 

From  this  time  forward  we  have  the  sure  guide  of  a  vestry-book 
in  tracing  the  history  of  this  parish.  The  one  before  us  opens 
with  the  first  meeting  of  the  parishioners,  in  March,  1785,  to  elect 
a  vestry  under  the  act  of  incorporation  by  the  Legislature,  which 
had  before  put  down  the  Episcopal  Church  as  an  Establishment. 
The  first  vestrymen  were  Edmund  Randolph,  Turner  Southall, 
Jaqueline  Ambler,  Nathaniel  Wilkinson,  Hobson  Owen,  William 
Fouchee,  William  Burton,  Daniel  L.  Hylton,  Miles  Selden,  Thomas 
Prosser,  John  Ellis,  Bowler  Cocke,  of  whom  Edmund  Randolph 
and  Bowler  Cocke  were  chosen  churchwardens,  and  the  former 
elected  to  the  Convention  about  to  meet  in  the  May  following. 
Previous  to  that  meeting,  the  Rev.  John  Buchanon  was  elected 
minister  of  the  parish.  He  had  been  the  minister  of  Amherst 
parish  some  years  before  this.  The  following  resolution  of  the 
vestry  in  the  year  1789  will  show  their  sense  of  the  importance  of 
religion,  and  their  testimony  to  its  low  condition  at  that  time : — 

"  We,  the  undersigned,  (it  was  intended  for  vestrymen  and  others,) 
considering  that  the  principles  of  true  religion  have  a  powerful  tendency 
to  promote  as  well  the  order  and  good  government  of  the  society  at  large, 
as  the  peace  and  happiness  of  those  individuals  who  are  influenced  by 
them,  and  that  there  has  been  found  no  surer  mode  of  establishing  and 
rivetting  such  principles  on  the  mind,  and  the  uniform  exercise  of  and 
attendance  on  public  worship,  and  deeply  deploring  the  almost  total  de- 
cline of  divine  worship  for  some  years  past,  and  the  consequent  deprava- 


to  vacate  his  little  dwelling  on  the  hill ;  and,  though  our  whole  family  can  scarcely 
stand  up  all  together  in  it,  my  father  has  determined  to  rent  it  as  the  only  decent 
tenement  on  the  hill." 


142  OLD   CHUKCHES,   MINISTERS,    AND 

tion  of  morals  of  every  denomination  among  us,  and  earnestly  wishing  for 
a  reformation  on  that  head,  more  particularly  on  account  of  the  rising 
generation,  that  the  seeds  of  piety  and  virtue  may  be  sown  in  their  tender 
minds,  and  preserve  them  from  the  contagion  and  irreligion  and  the  prac- 
tices of  an  evil  world.  To  effectuate  these  important  purposes,  as  far  as 
our  influence  and  circumstances  admit,  we  have  entered  into  the  present 
association  for  the  support  of  religion  and  the  maintenance  of  regular 
divine  worship,  and  do  therefore  hereby  oblige  ourselves,  our  heirs,  &c.  to 
pay  or  cause  to  be  paid  unto  Jaqueline  Ambler,  Treasurer  of  the  Protest- 
ant Episcopal  Church  in  the  parish  of  Henrico,"  &c. 

So  low,  however,  was  the  condition  of  the  church,  that  a  very 
small  sum  was  raised  in  this  way  for  the  support  of  the  ministry, 
and  Mr,  Buchannon  received  but  little  beside  the  rent  of  the  glebe 
and  perquisites  during  the  whole  of  his  ministry ;  and  that  little 
was  always  given  to  others.  Having  some  property  of  his  own, 
through  the  death  of  his  brother,  Mr.  James  Buchanon,  and 
living  with  simplicity  and  economy,  he  did  not  need  a  salary  for 
himself.* 

In  the  year  1790,  the  vestry  passed  a  resolution  permitting  the 
churchwardens  to  allow  ministers  of  other  denominations  to  preach 
in  our  country  churches  in  the  daytime,  when  not  occupied  by  Dr. 
Buchanon,  provided  they  did  not  leave  them  open  or  injure  them. 
At  a  later  period,  Mr.  Blair  is  allowed  to  preach  every  other  Sun- 
day in  St.  John's  Church.  This  not  only  shows  their  kind  feelings 
toward  the  other  denominations,  but  that  they  considered  the 
churches  as  not  made  common  property  by  the  law,  as  some  have 
contended.  In  the  year  1791,  a  committee  appointed  to  inquire 
into  the  property  of  the  parish  report  that  the  glebe  consists  of 
one  hundred  and  ninety-six  acres  of  land  by  an  old  patent,  that 
the  houses  are  out  of  repair,  that  the  glebe  rents  for  forty  pounds, 


*  The  following  letter  from  Mrs.  Colonel  Edward  Carrington,  of  Richmond,  to 
her  friend  Miss  Caines,  of  London,  (who  had  lived  in  Virginia,)  will  show  what  was 
the  state  of  things  at  this  time,  in  the  year  1792,  the  date  of  the  letter: — 

"This  evil"  (the  want  of  public  worship)  "increases  daily;  nor  have  we  left  in 
our  extensive  State  three  churches  that  are  decently  supported.  Our  metropolis 
even  would  be  left  destitute  of  this  blessing  but  for  the  kind  offices  of  our  friend 
Buchanon,  whom  you  remember  well,  an  inmate  of  our  family.  He,  from  sheer 
benevolence,  continues  to  preach  in  our  capital,  to  what  we  now  call  the  New 
School, — that  is  to  say,  to  a  set  of  modern  philosophers  who  merely  attend  because 
they  know  not  what  else  to  do  with  themselves.  But,  blessed  be  God,  in  spite  of 
the  enlightened,  as  they  call  themselves,  and  in  spite  of  Godwin,  Paine,  &c.,  we 
still,  at  times,  particularly  on  our  great  Church-days,  repair  with  a  choice  few  to 
our  old  church  on  the  hill,  (St.  John's,)  and,  by  contributing  our  mite,  endeavour 
to  preserve  the  religion  of  our  fathers.  Delightful  hours  we  sometimes  pasa 
there,"  &c. 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  143 

and  is  supposed  to  be  worth  one  thousand  pounds,  that  there  is 
one  silver  cup  and  salver.  In  the  year  1714,  the  vestry  elected 
the  Rev.  David  Moore,  son  of  Bishop  Moore,  to  act  as  assistant 
to  Dr.  Buchanon  ;  but  the  offer  was  declined.  In  the  year  1715, 
the  Rev.  William  Hart  was  chosen  and  accepted.  In  the  year 
1722,  Dr.  Buchanon  died,  and  Mr.  Hart  succeeded  to  the  entire 
rectorship  of  the  church. 

On  the  13th  of  May,  1826,  Dr.  John  Adams  presented  to  the 
vestry  a  marble  font,  which  was  obtained  from  Curls  Church.  In 
July  of  the  year  1828,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hart  resigned  and  the  Rev. 
William  F.  Lee  was  elected.  Soon  after  Mr.  Lee's  entrance  on 
the  duties  of  rector,  a  proposition  was  made  to  remove  the  old 
church  below  the  hill,  or  build  or  purchase  a  new  one.  This  re- 
sulted in  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Lee  and  of  a  number  of  the  ves- 
trymen, and  the  formation  of  a  new  congregation  and  purchase  of 
a  Presbyterian  church,  since  called  Christ  Church,  in  whose  ser- 
vice Mr.  Lee  ended  his  days. 

In  the  year  1830,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Peet  was  chosen  the  minister  of 
St.  John's.  In  the  year  1833,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Peet  resigned  and  the 
Rev.  Robert  Croes  was  elected.  Mr.  Croes  resigned  in  1836,  and 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Hart  was  re-elected  to  his  old  parish,  and  continued 
its  minister  until  the  year  1842.  In  the  following  year,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Morrison  was  elected,  and  continued  the  minister  until  1848. 
In  the  following  year,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kepler  was  called  to  be  the 
minister  of  this  parish,  and  continues  such  to  this  time. 

I  close  my  notice  of  St.  John's  Church  by  referring  to  a  subject 
on  which  I  find  that  the  vestry  took  action  in  the  years  1826  and 
1828.  At  an  early  period,  two  hundred  acres  of  land  were  laid 
off  from  the  College  or  Company  lands  near  Henricopolis  or  Dale's 
settlement,  for  a  glebe,  court-house,  prison,  &c.,  one  hundred  and 
ninety-six  being  for  the  former.  It  continued  to  be  the  residence 
and  property  of  the  successive  ministers  until  the  death  of  Dr. 
Buchanon,  in  1822.  A  short  time  subsequent  to  this,  the  over- 
seers of  the  poor  laid  claim  to  it  and  offered  it  for  sale.  The  Rev. 
Mr.  Hart,  assistant  and  successor  to  Dr.  Buchanon,  enjoined  the 
proceedings,  and  filed  a  bill  in  Chancery  to  obtain  ownership ; 
whereupon  the  Chancellor,  at  the  January  term  of  his  court  in 
1826,  decided  in  favour  of  the  church  and  against  all  claims  of 
the  overseers  of  the  poor.  It  was  then  resolved  by  the  vestry  to 
sell  their  right  and  interest  in  the  glebe  to  Mr.  Pleasant  Aiken,  of 
Petersburg,  in  such  manner  as  shall  appear  for  the  best  interests 
of  the  parish.  An  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  Chancellor  was 


144  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

taken  by  the  overseers  of  the  poor,  and  Mr.  Aiken  declined  closing 
the  bargain  until  the  decision  of  the  Court  of  Appeals.  In  the 
month  of  March,  1828,  the  vestry  direct  the  rector  to  lease  the 
glebe-lands  adjoining  the  Yarina  estate,  and  belonging  to  the 
parish,  to  such  person  and  upon  such  terms  as  he  may  think  will 
best  secure  their  preservation.  This  is  the  last  entry  upon  the  ves- 
try-book concerning  it.  I  am  privately  informed  that  the  vestry 
withdrew  their  claim,  or  did  not  prosecute  it,  rather  than  involve 
the  church  in  what  might  prove  a  long  and  bitter  controversy  with 
the  overseers  of  the  poor  representing  the  citizens  of  Henrico, 
although  well  persuaded  that  the  Chancellor  was  right  in  his  deci- 
sion. I  presume  that  the  claim  of  the  vestry  rested  on  the  fact 
that  this  glebe  was  not  purchased  for  the  parish  by  a  levy  of  the 
vestry  on  the  people,  as  was  the  case  of  the  glebes  generally,  and 
on  which  account  the  law  for  selling  them  was  passed,  but  was  a 
gift  to  the  parish  by  the  London  Company  out  of  the  lands  set 
apart  for  the  College  and  the  general  uses  of  Henrico.  In  ceasing 
to  contend  for  their  rights,  the  vestrymen  of  Henrico  only  did 
what  other  vestrymen  have  done,  preferring  rather  to  suffer  loss 
than  promote  strife  and  thereby  injure  the  cause  of  religion.  It 
has  been  the  general  sentiment  of  the  clergy  and  laity  of  our 
Church  in  Virginia,  with  whom  I  have  beon  acquainted,  that, 
though  the  glebes  may  have  been  wrongfully  taken  away,  (about 
which  there  has  been  diversity  of  opinion,)  yet  even  if  they  could 
be  recovered  by  law,  the  effort  should  not  be  made,  because  of  the 
discord  and  unhappiness  which  would  certainly  attend  it. 

As  I  am  writing  of  the  old  churches  and  ministers  of  Virginia, 
leaving  it  to  some  one  else,  at  a  future  day,  with  ampler  materials 
than  I  possess  for  my  work,  to  speak  of  more  modern  ones,  a  few 
words  will  suffice  for  the  new  parishes  and  churches  in  Richmond. 
Of  the  sad  calamity  which  led  to  the  erection  of  the  Monumental 
Church,  every  modern  history  of  Virginia  and  sketch  of  Rich- 
mond is  full,  and  I  shall  not  dwell  upon  it.  Bishop  Moore  was 
called  to  be  its  first  minister,  and  still  lives  in  the  hearts  of  all 
who  knew  him.  The  Revs.  Mr.  Croes,  Nichols,  Thomas  Jackson, 
and  Norwood,  were  successively  his  assistants.  The  latter  suc- 
ceeded to  the  rectorship  at  the  Bishop's  death.  A  larger  church 
being  needed,  St.  Paul's  was  built  under  the  auspices  of  Mr.  Nor- 
wood and  some  active  laymen.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Woodbridge,  who 
had  long  laboured  in  the  church  vacated  by  the  death  of  the  Rev, 
Mr.  Lee,  took  possession  of  the  Monumental, when  St.  Paul's  was 
completed  and  entered  by  Mr.  Norwood  and  his  congregation. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  145 

Years  before  this,  St.  James's  Church  had  been  built  and  Dr. 
Empie  called  to  be  its  pastor.  After  faithfully  labouring  many 
years,  and  being  unable  to  labour  more,  he  resigned  the  charge  of 
it  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cummings,  at  whose  resignation  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Peterkin  succeeded.  At  the  resignation  of  St.  Paul's  by  Mr.  Nor- 
wood, on  account  of  ill  health,  the  Rev.  Alexander  Jones  was 
chosen,  and  continued  some  years.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Minegerode  is 
the  present  pastor.  Since  Mr.  Woodbridge's  removal  to  the  Monu- 
mental Church,  Trinity  Church  has  been  mostly  supplied  by  mis- 
sionary services.  During  the  last  spring,  while  under  the  charge 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Webb,  the  building  was  consumed  with  fire.  It 
deserves  to  be  mentioned  that  a  missionary  chapel  was  erected  in 
the  western  part  of  the  city,  some  years  since,  through  the  zealous 
.  labours  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bolton,  though,  from  various  unfavourable 
circumstances,  it  failed  of  its  object  and  has  been  disposed  of. 
Should  I  have  failed  to  make  mention  of  the  missionary  labours  of 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Duval,  in  Richmond,  the  memories  and  the  hearts  of 
all  its  citizens  would  have  supplied  the  deficiency,  even  if  the  ex- 
cellent memoir  of  him  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Walker  had  not  perpetuated 
the  remembrance  of  one  of  the  most  devoted  Christians  and  phi- 
lanthropists of  Virginia. 


10 


146  OLD  CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,   AND 


ARTICLE  XL 

Williamsburg,  Bruton  Parish. — No.  1. 

THIS  parish  was  carved  out  of  the  counties  of  James  City  and 
Charles  River.  The  latter  county  was,  in  1642,  changed  into 
York  county.  The  parish  of  Bruton,  in  the  year  1723,  was 
reported  to  the  Bishop  of  London  as  ten  miles  square.  At  one 
time  a  parish  called  Marston  was  within  these  bounds,  being  the 
upper  part,  toward  New  Kent ;  but  that  was  soon  dissolved  and 
added  to  Bruton.  Of  the  early  history  of  Williamsburg,  or  the 
Middle  Plantation,  we  know  but  little.  That  there  was  a  church 
there  in  1665  is  certain  from  an  entry  in  the  vestry-book  of  Mid- 
dlesex parish,  in  that  year,  which  directs  a  church  to  be  built  in 
thac  parish,  after  the  model  of  that  at  "Williamsburg, — probably  a 
wooden  one.  How  long  that  at  Williamsburg  had  been  in  existence 
"before  this  time  is  not  known.  The  vestry-book  of  Bruton  parish 
commenced  in  1674,  and  continues  until  1769, — a  few  years  before 
the  Revolution.  The  first  minister  was  the  Rev.  Rowland  Jones, 
who  continued  from  1674  to  his  death,  in  1688.  Besides  vestry- 
men and  churchwardens,  there  were,  after  the  English  custom  and 
canons,  two  officers,  called  sidesmen  or  questmen,  who  were  espe- 
cially appointed  to  present  unworthy  persons  to  those  in  authority, 
for  civil  and  ecclesiastical  discipline.  I  have  not  met  with  these  in 
any  other  parish.  It  appears  that  there  were  at  this  time,  and 
had  been,  no  doubt,  for  a  considerable  period,  two  other  churches 
in  this  parish,  an  upper  and  lower,  both  of  which  needed  repair ; 
and  the  vestry  resolved,  in  the  year  1678,  not  to  repair  either  of 
them,  but  to  build  a  new  brick  church  at  Williamsburg,  to  answer 
for  all.  Free  donations  were  solicited  before  a  levy  was  resorted 
to.  A  list  of  some  of  the  donors  is  recorded.  At  the  head  is 
John  Page  (first  of  the  name)  for  £20,  and  the  ground  for  the 
church  and  graveyard;  Thomas  Ludwell,  £20;  Philip  Ludwell, 
£10 ;  Colonel  Thorp,  £10 ;  and  many  others,  £5, — among  them 
the  minister,  Mr.  Jones.  A  pew  was  put  in  the  chancel  for  the 
minister,  and  Mr.  John  Page  and  Edward  Jennings  were  allowed 


Wl  LLI  AMSBU  RG     CHURCH,     BRUTON     PARISH. 


FAMILIES   OP  VIRGINIA.  147 

to  put  up  pews  for  their  families  within  the  same.*     The  church 
being  finished,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jones  was  requested  to  dedicate  it. 


*  The  Autobiography  of  Governor  Page,  from  which  the  following  extract  is 
taken,  was  written  at  the  request  of  Mr.  Skelton  Jones,  when  he  undertook  the 
completion  of  Burk's  History  of  Virginia : — 

"I  discover  from  the  tombstones  in  Williamsburg  churchyard,"  says  Governor 
Page,  "and  from  others  in  my  grandfather's  burying-ground  at  his  family-seat 
called  Rosewell: — 1st,  that  one  of  my  ancestors,  named  John  Page,  was  an  highly- 
respectable  character,  and  had  long  been  one  of  the  King's  Council  in  this  Colony, 
when  he  died,  viz.:  on  the  23d  January,  1691-2,  aged  sixty.  His  manuscripts, 
which  I  have  seen,  prove  that  he  was  learned  and  pious.  2d,  that  his  son,  Matthew 
Page,  was  one  of  the  Council,  and  his  son  Mann  also,  whose  letters  to  his  friends, 
and  theirs  to  him,  exhibit  him  as  patriotic,  well  educated,  and  truly  amiable.  He 
had  his  classical  education  at  Eton  School,  in  England.  He  was  my  father's 
father,  who  might  also  have  been  appointed  to  the  office  of  Councillor ;  but  he 
declined  it  in  favour  of  his  younger  brother,  John  Page,  who,  my  father  said, 
having  been  brought  up  in  the  study  of  the  law  regularly,  was  a  much  more  proper 
person  for  that  office  than  he  was.  The  John  Page  first  above  mentioned  was,  as 
we  find  by  an  old  picture,  a  Sir  John  Page,  a  merchant  of  London,  supposed  to 
have  been  knighted,  as  Sir  John  Randolph  long  after  was,  for  proposing  a  regula- 
tion of  the  tobacco-trade  and  a  duty  thereon,  which  if  it  was  the  case,  I  think  his 
patriotism  was  premature,  and  perhaps  misplaced :  his  dear,  pure-minded,  and 
American  patriotic  grandson,  my  grandfather,  Mann  Page,  in  his  days  checked 
the  British  merchants  from  claiming  even  freight  on  their  goods  from  England, 
declaring  that  their  freight  on  our  tobacco  and  homeward-bound  articles,  added  to 
their  monopoly  of  our  trade,  ought  to  satisfy  avarice  itself.  This  he  expressed 
repeatedly  to  his  mercantile  friends,  and  some  near  relations  who  were  tobacco- 
merchants  in  London :  however,  he  lived  not  long  after.  The  fashion  or  practice 
then  was  for  men  of  landed  property  here  to  dispose  of  their  children  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner : — They  entailed  all  their  lands  on  the  eldest  son,  brought  up  the 
others  according  to  their  genius  or  disposition, — physicians,  or  lawyers,  or  mer- 
chants, or  ministers  of  the  Church  of  England, — which  handsomely  maintained  such 
as  were  frugal  and  industrious.  My  father  was  frequently  urged  by  friends,  but 
not  relations,  to  pay  court  to  Sir  Gregory  Page,  whose  heir,  from  his  coat-of-arms 
and  many  circumstances,  he  was  supposed  to  be.  But  he  despised  titles  sixty  years 
ago  as  much  as  you  and  I  do  now,  and  would  have  nothing  to  say  to  the  rich  silly 
knight,  who  died,  leaving  his  estate  and  title  to  a  sillier  man  than  himself,  his  sister's 
son,  a  Mr.  Turner,  on  condition  that  he  would  take  the  name  and  title  of  Sir  Gregory 
Page,  which  he  did  by  act  of  Parliament,  as  I  have  been  told  or  read." 

It  would  appear  from  the  above  that  Mr.  Page,  of  Rosewell,  had  but  little  of  the 
pride  of  family  about  him,  and  that  his  grandfather  despised  titles.  From  the 
vestry-book  it  seems  that  the  second  John  Page  defended  the  rights  of  vestries 
against  the  claims  of  King  and  Governor.  From  the  autobiography  it  appears 
that  Governor  Page,  of  Rosewell,  opposed  Lord  Dunmore  in  his  attempt  to  place 
John  Randolph,  who  went  to  England  when  the  war  commenced,  among  the  Visitors 
of  the  College,  and  succeeded  in  getting  Mr.  Nathaniel  Burwell  (afterward  of 
Frederick  county)  chosen,  Lord  Dunmore's  vote  alone  being  cast  for  Mr.  Randolph. 
Governor  Page  was  an  officer  for  Gloucester  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  was 
with  Washington  in  one  of  his  Western  expeditions  against  the  French  and  Indians. 
He  was  the  associate  and  intimate  friend  of  Mr.  Jefferson  at  college,  and  his 


148  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

The  vestry  now  caused  it  to'  be  proclaimed  throughout  the  parish, 
that  the  law  against  those  who  absented  themselves  from  church 
would  be  enforced.  It  seems  that,  though  much  violated,  it  had 
not  been  enforced,  and  perhaps  never  was.  The  penalty  was  so 
many  pounds  of  tobacco,  after  the  laws  "martial,  moral,  and  divine" 
had  been  repealed.  It  was  during  Mr.  Jones's  ministry  that  the 
salary  of  .£100,  which  had  been  paid  him,  was  commuted  for  sixteen 
thousand-weight  of  tobacco,  the  minister  consenting,  as  the  people 
complained  that  they  were  not  able  to  pay  the  <£100.  At  the  death 
of  Mr.  Jones,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Sclater  was  employed  for  six  months, 
to  preach  every  other  Sabbath  afternoon,  and  then  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Eburne  for  the  same  time  every  other  Sunday  morning.  It  is 
probable  that  these  were  ministers  of  neighbouring  parishes.  At 
the  close  of  Mr.  Eburne's  engagement  they  elected  him  for  seven 
years,  instead  of  inducting  him  for  life.  Lord  Effingham,  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor,  then  addressed  them  the  following  letter  : — 

"  GENTLEMEN  : — I  understand  that  upon  my  former  recommendation 
to  you  of  Mr.  Samuel  Eburne,  you  have  received  him,  and  he  hath  con- 
tinued to  exercise  his  ministerial  functions  in  preaching  and  performing 
divine  service.  I  have  now  to  recommend  him  a  second  time  to  you, 
with  the  addition  of  my  own  experience  of  his  ability  and  true  qualifica- 
tion in  all  points,  together  with  his  exemplary  life  and  conversation. 
And  therefore,  holding  of  him  in  esteem,  as  a  person  who,  to  God's 
honour  and  your  good  instruction,  is  fit  to  be  received,  I  do  desire  he  may 
be  by  you  entertained  and  continued,  and  that  you  will  give  him  such 
encouragement  as  you  have  formerly  done  to  persons  so  qualified. 

"  October  25th,  1688.  EFFINGHAM." 


follower  in  politics  afterward,  though  always  differing  from  him  on  religious  sub- 
jects, endeavouring  to  his  latest  years,  by  correspondence,  to  convince  him  of  his 
errors.  He  was  a  zealous  friend  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  defended  in  the 
Legislature  what  he  conceived  to  be  her  rights,  against  those  political  friends  with 
whom  he  agreed  on  all  other  points.  So  zealous  was  he  in  her  cause  that  some 
wished  him  to  take  Orders,  with  a  view  to  being  the  Bishop  of  Virginia.  His  name 
may  be  seen  on  the  journals  of  the  earliest  Conventions  of  the  general  Church,  as 
well  as  of  those  of  Virginia.  I  have  a  pamphlet  in  my  possession,  in  which  his  name 
is  in  connection  with  those  of  Robert  C.  Nicholas  and  Colonel  Bland,  as  charging 
one  of  the  clergy  in  or  about  Williamsburg  with  false  views  on  the  subject  of  the 
Trinity  and  the  eternity  of  the  punishment  of  the  damned.  His  theological  library 
was  well  stored  for  that  day.  The  early  fathers  in  Greek  and  Latin,  with  some 
other  valuable  books,  were  presented  to  myself  by  one  of  his  sons,  and  form  a  part 
of  my  library.  It  may  not  be  amiss  to  repeat  what  I  have  said  in  a  preface  to  the 

little  volume  written  as  a  legacy  by  the  first  of  this  name  to  his  posterity, that 

seven  of  them  are  now  ministers  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  two  who  were  such 
are  deceased. 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  149 

The  meaning  of  the  foregoing  is  plain, — viz. :  that  the  vestry- 
men apply  to  the  Governor  to  induct  Mr.  Eburne  for  life,  and  so 
have  him  fixed  upon  them,  unless  by  process  of  law  he  could  be 
discarded  for  some  great  crime  or  crimes.  The  vestry,  however, 
at  the  end  of  the  seven  years,  passed  a  resolve  never  to  elect  a 
minister  for  more  than  one  year  at  a  time,  and  invited  him  to 
remain  on  these  terms ;  but  he,  getting  old  and  infirm,  preferred 
going  to  some  milder  climate.  Here  is  the  first  recorded  conflict 
of  a  vestry  with  the  Governor  on  the  subject  of  inductions.  We 
shall  very  soon  have  occasion  to  consider  the  subject  at  some 
length.  In  the  year  1697,  the  Rev.  Cope  Doyley  was  chosen 
minister.  In  the  year  1700,  Governor  Nicholson  appears  on  the 
vestry-book,  in  a  manner  characteristic  of  himself.  He  demands 
of  the  vestry,  under  their  own  hands,  whether  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Doyley  reads  the  service  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  in  the 
church.  It  is  answered  in  the  affirmative.  In  the  year  1702,  Mr. 
Doyley  dies,  and  Mr.  Solomon  Whately  is  chosen  from  some  other 
parish, — not,  however,  without  the  Governor's  leave  being  asked 
for  his  removal.  After  having  preached  his  trial  sermon,  and 
being  called,  some  objection  was  raised,  and  he  is  requested  to 
preach  again,  for  the  satisfaction  of  those  who  were  not  present  at 
his  first  sermon.  His  election  for  one  year  was  confirmed,  at 
the  end  of  which  time  his  call  was  not  renewed ;  but  he  was  in- 
vited toTcontinue  for  a  few  months  while  looking  out  for  another 
parish.  One  of  the  vestry  was  directed  to  see  the  Rev.  Isaac 
Grace,  who  had  just  arrived  in  the  colony,  and  get  him  to  preach. 
Mr.  Grace  expressed  a  willingness  to  come,  but  said  that  his  case 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  Governor,  who  had  forbid  him  to  come  into 
the  parish.  It  seems  that  Mr.  Whately  was  a  favourite  of  the 
Governor,  and  that  he  was  offended  with  the  vestry  for  not 
choosing  him  as  their  permanent  minister.  Mr.  Whately  was  the 
most  active  minister  in  sustaining  Governor  Nicholson  when,  on 
various  accounts,  he  had  become  so  unpopular  that,  at  the  peti- 
tion of  the  Council  and  some  of  the  clergy,  he  was  withdrawn 
from  Virginia.  This  case  of  the  vestry  and  Mr.  Whately  led  Mr. 
Nicholson  to  get  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Edward  Northy,  one  of  the 
King's  high  legal  advisers,  as  to  the  relative  powers  and  privileges 
of  the  Governors  and  vestries  in  presenting  and  inducting  minis- 
ters, and  to  order  it  to  be  entered  upon  all  the  vestry-books.  I 
have  seen  it  on  a  number  of  them,  and  find  it  on  that  of  Bruton 
parish,  from  which  I  am  drawing  these  statements.  On  receiving 
it,  the  vestry  passed  some  resolutions,  and  directed  Mr.  John 


150  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

Page,  (grandson  of  the  old*  vestryman  of  that  name,  who  was  now 
dead,)  an  eminent  lawyer  and  member  of  the  Council,  to  draw  up 
something  on  the  subject,  with  the  view  of  presenting  it  to  the 
House  of  Burgesses,  requesting  them  to  take  action  on  the  question. 
We  hear  nothing  more  of  the  dispute,  and  the  Governor  was  recalled 
in  1705 ;  but  this  is  evident : — that  the  vestry  never  yielded  the 
point ;  for  although  they  thought  it  expedient  to  retain  Mr.  Whately 
until  his  death,  yet  it  was  under  a  solemn  declaration  of  their  deter- 
mination to  elect  their  minister  every  year,  which  was  done  in  the  case 
of  Mr.  Whately  and  his  successors,  during  the  Colonial  Govern- 
ment, so  far  as  the  vestry-book  shows.  The  history  of  the  case  is 
this  : — In  theory,  the  Governor  claimed  to  be  the  representative  of 
the  King,  in  Church  and  State,  and  patron  of  all  the  parishes ;  also 
to  be  the  representative  of  the  Bishop  of  London,  having  the  disposal 
of  the  ministers  and  the  exercise  of  discipline  over  the  clergy, 
thus  making  the  office  of  the  Commissary  a  nullity.  Nor  did  the 
Commissaries  object;  for  they  were,  with  one  exception,  Presidents 
of  William  and  Mary  College,  and  fully  employed.  Dr.  Blair  did 
sometimes  act.  It  was  evident  that  if  such  was  to  be  the  construc- 
tion put  upon  the  power  of  the  Governor,  as  claimed  by  Effing- 
ham,  Nicholson,  and  Spottswood,  the  vestries  would  have  little 
power  to  prevent  the  settlement  for  life  (with  legal  power  to  enforce 
their  salaries)  of  many  most  unworthy  ministers ;  for  although  the 
law  allowed  them  the  right  of  choosing  a  minister  within  six 
months  after  a  vacancy  occurred,  yet  if  they  did  not  so  do  the 
Governor  might  send  one  and  induct  him  for  life.  Now,  such  was 
the  scarcity  of  ministers  that  they  must  wait  the  arrival  of  some 
new  and  untried  one  from  England,  or  else  take  some  indifferent 
one  who  was  without  a  parish  in  this  country.  To  save  the 
congregations  from  imposition  under  such  a  system,  the  vestries 
adopted  the  method  of  electing  from  year  to  year,  not  presenting 
to  the  Governors  for  induction,  by  which  induction  so  many  un- 
worthy ministers  might  be  settled  upon  them.  Induction  did  take 
place  in  some  cases  where,  after  years  of  good  conduct,  it  was 
safe  to  conform  to  the  law ;  and  in  some  few  others.  Who  could 
blame  them  for  this  act  of  self-defence  against  such  mighty  power 
in  the  hands  of  one  man,  when  the  consequences  of  induction  were 
so  evil,  and  when  the  circumstances  of  the  parishes,  the  small 
salaries  and  extensive  districts  to  be  served,  and  the  state  of  the 
Mother-Church,  made  it  so  difficult  to  get  worthy  ministers  ?  This 
was  the  practice  of  the  vestries  almost  from  the  first  and  to  the 
very  last  of  the  Colonial  establishment.  In  vain  did  the  clergy 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  151 

complain  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  and  even  to  the  Crown,  of  the 
uncertain  and  precarious  tenure  by  which  they  held  their  livings 
from  year  to  year.  In  vain  did  the  Governors  and  Commissaries 
speak  of  this  custom  of  the  vestries,  as  preventing  more  and 
better  ministers  from  coming  over.  In  vain  were  the  sympathetic 
responses  from  England.  The  vestries  were  unmoved.  The 
Governors  and  Commissaries  were  wise  enough  to  attempt  nothing 
more  than  complaints ;  for  they  must  have  seen  that  the  vestries 
had  much  reason  for  their  conduct,  and  that  any  rigid  interpreta- 
tion of  the  law  and  effort  to  enforce  it  would  meet  with  effectual 
resistance  from  the  vestries.  The  Crown  and  the  Bishop  of 
London  dared  not  issue  any  injunction  of  the  kind.  On  the 
contrary,  whatever  was  done  in  England  from  time  to  time  was 
in  modification  of  any  supposed  high  rights  of  Governors  and  in 
favour  of  vestries,  and  the  nearer  the  Revolution  approached  the 
more  fearful  were  the  authorities  in  England  of  doing  any  thing 
against  the  vestries.  The  vestries  were  the  depositaries  of  power 
in  Virginia.  They  not  only  governed  the  Church  by  the  elec- 
tion of  ministers,  the  levying  of  taxes,  the  enforcing  of  laws,  but 
they  made  laws  in  the  House  of  Burgesses;  for  the  burgesses 
were  the  most  intelligent  and  influential  men  of  the  parish,  and 
were  mostly  vestrymen.  It  is  easy  to  perceive  why  the  vestry  of 
Williamsburg  wished  the  question  between  them  and  Nicholson 
referred  to  the  Assembly;  for  it  was  only  referring  it  to  the  other 
vestries,  who  were  pursuing  the  same  course  with  themselves. 
Nor  were  the  vestries  represented  in  the  popular  branch  of  the 
Government  only.  We  will  venture  to  affirm,  and  that  not 
without  examination,  that  there  was  scarce  an  instance  of  any  but 
a  vestryman  being  in  the  Council,  although,  as  the  Council  was 
chosen  by  the  Governor  and  the  King,  there  was  more  likelihood 
of  some  being  found  in  them  who  might  favour  high  views  of 
prerogative. 

In  the  history  of  the  vestries  we  may  fairly  trace  the  origin,  not 
only  of  that  religious  liberty  which  afterward  developed  itself  in 
Virginia,  but  also  of  the  early  and  determined  stand  taken  by  the 
Episcopalians  of  Virginia  in  behalf  of  civil  liberty.  The  vestries, 
who  were  the  intelligence  and  moral  strength  of  the  land,  had  been 
trained  up  in  the  defence  of  their  rights  against  Governors  and 
Bishops,  Kings,  Queens,  and  Cabinets.  They  had  been  slowly 
fighting  the  battles  of  the  Revolution  for  a  hundred  and  fifty 
years.  Taxation  and  representation  were  only  other  words  for 
support  and  election  of  ministers.  The  principle  was  the  same. 


152  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

It  is  not  wonderful,  therefore,  that  we  find  the  same  men  who  took 
the  lead  in  the  councils  and  armies  of  the  Revolution  most  active 
in  the  recorded  proceedings  of  the  vestries.  Examine  the  vestry- 
books,  and  you  will  find  prominent  there  the  names  of  Washing- 
ton, Peyton  Randolph,  Edmund  Pendleton,  General  Nelson,  Go- 
vernor Page,  Colonel  Bland,  Richard  Henry  Lee,  General  Wood, 
Colonel  Harrison,  George  Mason,  and  hundreds  of  others  who  might 
be  named  as  patriots  of  the  Revolution.  The  principle  for  which 
vestries  contended  was  correct, — viz. :  the  choice  of  their  ministers. 
I  do  not  say  that  it  must  necessarily  be  by  annual  election ;  but 
there  must  be  a  power  of  changing  ministers,  for  sufficient  reasons. 
The  Governors  and  the  clergy,  who  came  from  England,  did  not 
understand  how  this  could  be,  so  used  had  they  been  to  a  method 
widely  different.  It  was  reserved  for  the  Church  in  America  to 
show  its  practicability,  and  also  to  establish  something  yet  more 
important,  and  what  is  by  most  Englishmen  still  thought  a  doubt- 
ful problem, — the  voluntary  principle,  by  which  congregations  not 
only  choose  their  ministers  but  support  them  without  taxation  by 
law.  It  may  be  wise  to  provide  some  check  to  the  sudden  removal 
of  ministers  by  the  caprice  of  vestries  and  congregations,  as  is  the 
case  in  the  Presbyterian  and  Episcopal  Churches,  where  some 
leave  of  separation  is  required  from  Presbyteries  and  Bishops ;  but 
neither  of  them  are  ever  so  unwise  as  to  interpose  a  veto  where  it 
is  evident  that  there  is  sufficient  reason  for  separation,  whether 
from  dissatisfaction  on  either  side,  or  from  both,  or  any  strong  con- 
sideration. The  people  have  it  in  their  power,  either  by  withhold- 
ing support  or  attendance,  and  in  other  ways,  to  secure  their  re- 
moval, and  the  ministers  cannot  be  forced  to  preach.  Either  party 
have  an  inalienable  right  to  separate,  unless  there  be  some  specific 
bargain  to  the  contrary.  In  one  denomination  in  our  land,  it  is 
true  that  ministers  are  appointed  to  their  stations  and  congrega- 
tions are  supplied  by  its  chief  officers ;  but  it  must  be  remembered 
that  this  is  only  a  temporary  appointment, — for  a  year  or  two  at 
most.  Let  it  ever  be  attempted  to  make  it  an  appointment  for  life, 
or  even  a  long  term  of  years,  and  the  dissolution  of  that  Society 
would  soon  take  place.  In  the  first  organization  of  our  general 
Church  in  this  country,  after  the  separation  from  our  mother-coun- 
try, an  office  of  induction  was  adopted,  with  the  view  of  rendering 
the  situation  of  the  clergy  more  permanent ;  but  such  was  the  oppo- 
sition to  it  from  Virginia  and  some  other  States,  that  it  was  deter- 
mined it  should  only  be  obligatory  on  those  States  which  chose  to 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  153 

make  it  so.     Very  few  instances  of  its  use  have  ever  occurred  in 
the  Diocese  of  Virginia.* 

*  In  proof  of  what  is  said  as  to  vestrymen,  we  publish  the  following  list  of  the 
Convention  of  1776.  From  our  examination  of  the  old  vestry-books,  we  are  con- 
fident that  there  are  not  three  on  this  list  who  were  not  vestrymen  of  the  Epis- 
copal Church. 

A  list  of  the  members  of  the  Convention  of  Virginia  which  began  its  sessions  in  the 
City  of  Williamsburg  on  Monday  the  sixth  of  May,  1776,  as  copied  from  the 
Journal : — 

Accomac — Southey  Simpson  and  Isaac  Smith,  Esquires ;  Albemarle — Charles 
Lewis,  Esquire,  and  George  Gilmer  for  Thomas  Jefferson,  Esquire  ;  Amelia — John 
Tabb  and  John  Winn,  Esquires  ;  Augusta — Thomas  Lewis  and  Samuel  McDowell, 
Esquires  ;  West  Augusta — John  Harvie  and  Charles  Simms,  Esquires ;  Amherst — 
William  Cabell  and  Gabriel  Penn,  Esquires ;  Bedford — John  Talbot  and  Charles 
Lynch,  Esquires ;  Botetourt — John  Bowyer  and  Patrick  Lockhart,  Esquires ;  Bruns- 
wick— Frederic  Maclin  and  Henry  Tazewell,  Esquires ;  Buckingham — Charles  Pat- 
teson  and  John  Cabell,  Esquires ;  Berkeley — Robert  Rutherford  and  William  Drew, 
Esquires ;  Caroline — the  Hon.  Edmund  Pendleton  and  James  Taylor,  Esquires ; 
Charles  City — William  Acrill,  Esquire,  and  Samuel  Harwood,  Esquire,  for  B.  Har- 
rison, Esquire ;  Charlotte — Paul  Carrington  and  Thomas  Read,  Esquires ;  Chester- 
field— Archibald  Gary  and  Benjamin  Watkins,  Esquires ;  Culpeper — Henry  Field 
and  French  Strother,  Esquires ;  Cumberland — John  Mayo  and  William  Fleming, 
Esquires ;  Dinwiddie — John  Banister  and  Boiling  Starke,  Esquires ;  Dunmore — 
Abraham  Bird  and  John  Tipton,  Esquires ;  Elizabeth  City — Wilson  Miles  Gary  and 
Henry  King,  Esquires ;  Essex — Meriwether  Smith  and  James  Edmundson,  Esquires  ; 
Fairfax — John  West,  Jr.,  and  George  Mason,  Esquires ;  Fauquier — Martin  Pick- 
ett  and  James  Scott,  Esquires  ;  Frederick — James  Wood  and  Isaac  Zane,  Esquires ; 
Fincastle — Arthur  Campbell  and  William  Russell,  Esquires;  Gloucester — Thomas 
Whiting  and  Lewis  Burwell,  Esquires ;  Goochland — John  Woodson  and  Thomas  M. 
Randolph,  Esquires;  Halifax — Nathaniel  Terry  and  Micajah  Watkins,  Esquires; 
Hampshire — James  Mercer  and  Abraham  Hite,  Esquires;  Hanover — Patrick  Henry 
and  John  Syme,  Esquires  ;  Henrico — Nathaniel  Wilkinson  and  Richard  Adams, 
Esquires ;  James  City — Robert  C.  Nicholas  and  William  Norvell,  Esquires ;  Isle  of 
Wight — John  S.  Wills  and  Charles  Fulgham,  Esquires ;  King  George — Joseph  Jones 
and  William  Fitzhugh,  Esquires;  King  and  Queen — George  Brooke  and  William 
Lyne,  Esquires ;  King  William — William  Aylett  and  Richard  Squire  Taylor,  Esquires ; 
Lancaster — James  Seldon  and  James  Gordon,  Esquires ;  Loudoun — Francis  Peyton 
and  Josias  Clapham,  Esquires ;  Louisa — George  Meriwether  and  Thomas  Johnson, 
Esquires  ;  Lunenburg — David  Garland  and  Lodowick  Farmer,  Esquires  ;  Middlesex 
— Edmund  Berkeley  and  James  Montague,  Esquires ;  Mecklenburg — Joseph  Speed 
and  Bennett  Goode,  Esquires ;  Nansemond — Willis  Riddick  and  William  Cowper, 
Esquires  ;  New  Kent — William  Clayton  and  Bartholomew  Dandridge,  Esquires ; 
Norfolk — James  Holt  and  Thomas  Newton,  Esquires ;  Northumberland — Rodham 
Kenner  and  John  Cralle,  Esquires ;  Northampton — Nathaniel  L.  Savage  and  George 
Savage,  Esquires  ;  Orange — James  Madison  and  William  Moore,  Esquires  ;  Pittsyl- 
vania— Benjamin  Lankford  and  Robert  Williams,  Esquires  ;  Prince  Edward — Wil- 
liam Watts  and  William  Booker,  Esquires ;  Prince  George— Richard  Bland  and 
Peter  Poythress,  Esquires ;  Princess  Anne — William  Robinson  and  John  Thorough- 
good,  Esquires;  Prince  William— Cuthbert  Bullitt  and  Henry  Lee,  Esquires; 


154  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  AND 

From  this  digression,  should  it  seem  so  to  any,  I  resume  the  his- 
tory of  Bruton  parish.  At  the  death  of  Mr.  Whately,  the  Rev. 
James  Blair,  Commissary  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  and  President 
of  William  and  Mary  College,  was  chosen  minister,  with  the  un- 
derstanding that  there  was  to  be  an  annual  election.  He  con- 
tinued the  minister  for  thirty-three  years,  until  his  death,  in  1743. 
Mr.  Blair  came  over  to  Virginia  in  1685,  and  was  the  minister  of 
Henrico  parish  for^nine  years,  and  then  moved  to  Jamestown,  in 
order  to  be  more  convenient  to  the  College  which  he  was  raising 
up.  In  the  year  1710,  he  became  the  minister  of  Bruton  parish. 
The  history  of  Mr.  Blair  during  the  last  forty-three  out  of  the 
fifty-three  years  of  his  ministry  is  so  connected  with  the  history 
not  only  of  Williamsburg  and  the  College,  but  of  the  Governors, 
the  Council,  the  Assembly  and  Church  of  Virginia,  that  it  will 
require  some  time  and  labour  to  do  it  any  thing  like  justice.  In- 
deed, with  all  the  documents  I  possess,  consisting  of  numerous  and 
most  particular  communications  made  by  him  and  others  to  the 
Privy  Council,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  Bishop  of 
London,  as  to  the  personal  difficulties  between  himself  and  the 
Governors  and  the  clergy, — communications  never  published,  and 
which  would  form  a  large  volume, — I  find  it  very  difficult  to  form 
a  positive  opinion  as  to  some  points  in  his  character.  I  begin  with 
that  which  is  most  easy  and  satisfactory, — his  ministerial  life.  It 
commenced  under  the  administration  of  Governor  Spottswood,  and 
with  a  tender  from  the  Governor  to  the  vestry  of  aid  in  building  a 
new  church ;  the  plan  of  which  was  sent  by  him,  and  is,  I  pre- 
sume, the  same  with  that  now  standing.  Its  dimensions  were  to 
be  seventy-five  by  twenty-two  feet,  with  two  wings,  making  it  a 
cross  as  to  form.  The  governor  offered  to  build  twenty-two  feet 
of  the  length  himself.  Mr.  Blair,  so  far  as  the  vestry-book  shows, 
lived  in  uninterrupted  harmony  with  his  vestry  during  the  thirty- 
Richmond — Hudson  Muse  and  Charles  McCarty,  Esquires  ;  Southampton — Edwin 
Gray  and  Henry  Taylor,  Esquires  ;  Spottsylvania — Mann  Page  and  George  Thorn- 
ton, Esquires  ;  Stafford — Thomas  Ludwell  Lee  and  William  Brent,  Esquires ;  Surry 
. — Allen  Cocke  and  Nicholas  Fulton,  Esquires  ;  Sussex — David  Mason  and  Henry 
Gee,  Esquires ;  Warwick — William  Harwood  and  Richard  Gary,  Esquires  ;  West- 
moreland—  Richard  Lee,  Esquire,  Richard  Henry  Lee,  Esquire,  and  John  A. 
Washington,  Esquires  ;*  York  —  Dudley  Digges,  Esquire,  Thomas  Nelson,  Jr , 
Esquire,  and  William  Digges,  Esquire ;  Jamestown — Champion  Travis,  Esquire ; 
Williamsburg — Edmund  Randolph,  Esquire,  for  George  Wythe,  Esquire  ;  Norfolk 
Borough — William  Roscow  Wilson  Curie,  Esquire ;  College  of  William  and  Mary — 
John  Blair,  Esquire. 

*  John  A.  Washington  was  probably  the  alternate  of  R.  H.  Lee. 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  155 

three  years  of  his  ministry.  As  to  his  preaching,  we  have  a 
full  opportunity  of  deciding  upon  the  style  and  doctrine,  in  four 
printed  volumes  upon  the  Saviour's  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  con- 
taining one  hundred  and  seventeen  sermons.  These  sermons 
went  through  at  least  two  editions  in  England.  Dr.  Waterhury 
published  a  preface  to  the  second,  in  high  praise  of  them.  Dr. 
Doddridge  also  has  spoken  well  of  them.  I  have  gone  over 
these  discourses  with  sufficient  care  to  form  a  just  judgment 
of  the  same.  As  an  accurate  commentary  on  that  most  blessed 
portion  of  Scripture,  I  should  think  it  can  never  have  been 
surpassed.  Since  it  was  reserved  for  the  apostles,  under  the  dic- 
tates of  the  Spirit,  to  dwell  on  the  power  of  the  resurrection,  on 
justification  by  faith,  on  the  cleansing  by  the  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ,  so  Christ,  in  this  discourse,  was  not  setting  forth  the  faith 
•and  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  but  expounding  the  law,  in  opposition 
to  the  false  glosses  of  the  Jews,  and  showing  the  superior  spirit  of 
the  gospel.  Mr.  Blair  does  not,  therefore,  enter  fully  into  some 
of  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  though  he  recognises  them  suffi- 
ciently to  show  that  he  held  them  according  to  what  may  be 
termed  the  moderate  Arminian  scheme.  A  faithful  exposition  of 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  must  necessarily  condemn  all  evil  dispo- 
sitions and  practices,  and  Mr.  Blair  does  not  soften  any  thing. 
His  congregation  was  often  composed  of  the  authority  and  intelli- 
gence, fashion  and  wealth  of  the  State,  besides  the  youth  of  the 
College ;  nor  does  he  spare  any.  I  do  not  wonder  that  some  of  the 
Governors  and  great  ones  complained  of  his  being  personal.  From 
many  sources  of  information,  I  fear  that  swearing  was  most  com- 
mon among  the  gentlemen  of  that  day,  those  high  in  office  setting 
a  bad  example.  In  concluding  his  sermon  on  the  third  command- 
ment, as  explained  by  our  Lord  in  his  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  he 
thus  speaks : — 

"  Thus,  now  I  have  done  with  my  text;  but  I  am  afraid  I  have  done  no 
good  all  this  while,  and  that  the  evil  one,  from  whom  the  spirit  of  lying 
and  swearing  comes,  will  be  abundantly  too  hard  for  all  that  I  can  say  or 
do  to  fortify  you  againist  his  devices.  Learn,  I  beseech  you,  this  easy 
part  of  Christianity,  to  be  men  of  your  word,  and  to  refrain  from  the  evil 
custom  of  swearing ;  and  to  refrain  from  it  from  a  right  principle, — the 
fear  of  God.  I  know  no  vice  that  brings  more  scandal  to  our  Church  of 
England.  The  Church  may  be  in  danger  from  many  enemies ;  but  per- 
haps she  is  not  so  much  in  danger  from  any  as  from  the  great  number  of 
profane  persons  that  pretend  to  be  of  her ;  enough  to  make  all  serious 
people  afraid  of  our  society,  and  to  bring  down  the  judgments  of  God  upon 
us,  for  '  by  reason  of  swearing  the  land  mourneth/  But  be  not  deceived  : 
our  Church  has  no  principles  that  lead  to  swearing  more  than  the  Dis- 


• 

156  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

senters;  but,  whatever  Church  is  uppermost,  there  are  always  a  great 
many  who,  having  no  religion  at  all,  crowd  into  it  and  bring  it  into  dis- 
grace and  disreputation ;  but  the  time  is  coming  that  the  tares  must  be 
separated  from  the  wheat ;  and  they  shall  be  cast  with  the  evil  one — the 
devil  that  loved  them — into  hell ;  but  the  angels  shall  carefully  gather 
the  wheat  into  God's  barn.  If  ye  know  these  things,  happy  are  ye  if  ye 
do  them." 

In  speaking  of  the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  he  hesitates  not  to  call 
things  by  their  right  names  and  to  threaten  the  Scriptural  penal- 
ties. In  warning  against  the  temptations  and  provocations  to  the 
same,  lie  speaks  in  different  terms  from  many  of  that  day  of 
theatres,  balls,  frolics,  rendezvous,  promiscuous  dances,  interludes, 
and  clatter  of  company,  the  intoxication  of  drink,  the  lulling  the 
thoughts  asleep  by  music,  gaming,  &c.  In  warning  against  the 
love  of  dress,  from  our  Saviour's  allusion  to  the  flowers  of  the  field 
being  clothed  with  more  glory  than  even  Solomon,  he  says : — 

"  I  doubt  not  but  it  was  designed  to  cast  a  slur  upon  the  vanity  of  ap- 
parel, since  it  is  a  thing  of  so  little  estimation  in  the  sight  of  God  that 
he  bestows  it  in  the  highest  degree  on  the  meanest  of  his  creatures.  For 
it  is  to  be  presumed,  had  it  been  a  thing  of  any  great  worth  in  itself, 
instead  of  bestowing  these  admirable  varieties  of  colours,  gildings,  and 
embroideries  upon  tulips,  he  would  have  bestowed  them  upon  creatures 
of  higher  dignity.  Whereas,  on  mankind  he  has  bestowed  but  very 
sparingly  of  these  gaudy  colours  and  features ;  a  great  part  of  them  being 
black,  a  great  part  of  them  being  tauny,  and  a  great  part  being  of  other 
wan  and  dusky  complexions,  show  that  it  is  not  the  outward  gaudy  beauty 
that  he  values,  but  the  ornaments  of  the  mind — Christian  graces  and  vir- 
tues— which,  in  his  sight,  are  of  great  price. " 

He  is  throughout  a  faithful  reprover  of  sin.  He  admits  that 
there  is  little  or  no  infidelity  known  in  the  Colony,  as  in  England, 
but  a  great  deal  of  wickedness.  As  to  Church  principles,  as  some 
call  them,  he  was  no  Sacramentarian,  and  denounces  Romanism  in 
no  measured  terms,  but  is  still  conservative.  He  admitted  Mr. 
Whitefield  into  his  pulpit,  but,  on  hearing  that  the  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don had  proscribed  him,  made  a  kind  of  apology  for  it,  and  asked 
the  Bishop's  opinion  about  him. 


FAMILIES  OF  VIRGINIA.  157 


ARTICLE  XII. 

Williamsburg,  Bruton  Parish. — No.  2. 

WE  have  now  to  consider  Mr.  Blair  as  Commissary,  and 
having,  with  the  Governors,  the  superintendence  of  the  clergy 
and  the  affairs  of  the  Church ;  as  representative  of  the  Bishop 
of  London,  with  no  defined  limits  of  authority ;  as  the  founder 
and  President  of  William  and  Mary  College,  having  joint  action, 
with  visitors,  professors,  and  others,  in  all  things  belonging  to 
the  College,  and  of  course  often  coming  in  collision  with  them ; 
as  member  of  the  Council,  consulting  and  deciding  with  the 
Governor  and  others — the  first  men  of  Virginia  —  on  all  the 
concerns  of  the  State,  civil  and  religious,  and  forming  the 
great  judicial  body  to  whom  all  important  causes  were  referred 
for  final  decision.  That  a  man  of  his  active  character  and  supe- 
rior mind  should,  for  more  than  half  a  century,  have  been  thus 
associated  in  matters  of  such  importance,  without  frequent  colli- 
sion and  without  having  many  enemies,  is  not  to  be  supposed. 
That  he  should  be  charged  with  worldliness  and  management,  with 
being  an  informer  to  the  Bishop  of  London  and  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  with  whom  he  must  have  had  intimate  correspond- 
ence, was  to  be  expected ;  that  he  should  be  misunderstood  by 
many,  and  be  very  unpopular  with  some  good  men,  through  that 
misunderstanding,  and  perhaps  through  want  of  conciliatory  man- 
ners, and  a  tact  in  the  management  of  men : — all  these  things 
might  be  expected.  He  was  involved  in  difficulties  with  Gover- 
nors and  clergymen,  more  or  less,  during  almost  the  whole  period 
of  his  Commissaryship  and  Presidency  of  the  College.  I  have  the 
whole  of  these  controversies  spread  before  me  in  long  and  tedious 
letters,  from  himself  and  his  opponents,  to  the  authorities  in  Eng- 
land, which  have  never  been  published.  His  first  controversy  was 
with  Governor  Andros,  who  came  to  Virginia,  under  no  good 
character,  from  New  York.  By  royal  instructions  Andros  was  not 
only  Governor  of  Virginia,  but  the  ordinary,  the  representative 
of  the  King  and  Bishop  of  London  in  Church  matters,  the  Com- 


158  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

missary  being  comparatively  a  very  negative  character.  When 
these  complaints  were  made,  which  ended  in  his  disgrace,  Dr. 
Blair,  then  in  England,  about  his  College,  preferred  the  charges 
against  him  as  an  enemy  to  religion,  to  the  Church,  the  clergy, 
and  the  College,  bringing  proofs  of  the  same.  The  charges  cover 
thirty-two  folio  pages  of  manuscript,  and  are  well  written.  But 
Blair  had  formidable  foes  to  meet  in  London.  Governor  Andros 
sends  over  in  his  defence  Colonel  Byrd,  of  Westover,  Mr.  Harri- 
son, of  Surry,  Mr.  Povey,  a  man  high  in  office  in  the  Colony,  and 
a  Mr.  Marshall,  to  arraign  Dr.  Blair  himself  before  the  Bishop  of 
London  and  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Two  days  were  spent 
in  Lambeth  Palace  in  the  examination.  The  charges  and  the 
answers  are  set  down,  and  fill  up  fifty-seven  folio  pages  of  manu- 
script. Never  were  four  men  more  completely  foiled  by  one. 
The  accusers  seem  to  feel  and  acknowledge  it,  and  doubtless 
wished  themselves  out  of  Lambeth  Palace  long  before  the  trial 
was  over.  One  of  the  chief  charges  was  Mr.  Blair's  partiality  to 
Scotchmen,  whom  they  said  he  brought  over  to  fill  the  churches, 
contrary  to  the  wishes  of  the  people.  But,  being  called  on  to 
specify  names,  it  was  found  that  they  had  made  egregious  blunders 
as  to  facts ;  that  some  whom  they  supposed  to  be  Scots  were 
Englishmen.  Great  was  the  prejudice  against  Mr.  Blair,  as  being 
a  Scot.  This  was  the  time  when  that  unhappy  feeling  was  at 
its  height  in  England,  when  a  "beggarly  Scot"  was  the  common 
phrase.  A  number  of  the  private  letters  which  I  have  show  the 
prejudice  to  have  been  very  strong.  The  result  of  it  all  was,  that 
Mr.  Blair  came  home  with  a  good  sum  of  money  for  his  College, 
and  Andros  was  sent  back  to  England  to  stand  his  trial,  from 
which  he  came  out  but  badly.  Governor  Nicholson  succeeded  him. 
He  had  been  Deputy-Governor  before  Andros  came  over,  and 
there  was  then  a  good  understanding  and  friendship  between  him 
and  Mr.  Blair.  During  the  government  of  Andros  he  was  Gover- 
nor of  Maryland,  and  disagreed  with  the  good  Commissary  Bray 
not  a  little.  On  returning  to  Virginia  he  seemed  to  be  a  changed 
man.  A  disappointment  in  love  was  thought  to  have  much  to  do 
with  it.  He  was  vain,  conceited,  fickle,  passionate,  and  acted 
sometimes  like  a  madman,  though  still  professing  great  zeal  for 
the  Church.  After  a  year  or  two  Dr.  Blair  and  himself  were  open 
foes.  Letters  on  both  sides  were  written  to  England.  Blair  wrote 
four,  covering  in  all  forty-four  pages  folio,  charging  him  with 
interfering  with  his  province  and  with  private  and  public  miscon- 
duct ;  dwelling  on  his  furiousness  in  relation  to  the  affair  of  Miss 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  159 

Burwell,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Fouace.*  The  Council  and  some  of 
the  clergy  joined  with  him  in  petitioning  the  recall  of  Nicholson, 
which  petition  was  successful.  The  Church  and  State  were  in  an 
uproar.  A  number  of  the  clergy,  with  whom  Mr.  Blair  was  un- 
popular, and  whom  Mr.  Nicholson  had  ingratiated  by  taking  part 
with  them  against  the  vestries  and  representing  Mr.  Blair  as  less 
favourable  to  their  cause,  took  part  with  Mr.  Nicholson.  Mr. 
Nicholson  ordered  a  Convocation  to  be  assembled  for  general 
purposes,  and  during  its  sitting  had  private  meetings  of  those 
friendly  to  him,  at  his  house  or  lodging,  who  signed  a  paper 
denying  the  charges  of  Mr.  Blair  and  the  Council.  A  great 
dinner  or  supper  was  given  them  at  the  hotel  in  Williamsburg, 
which  was  satirized  in  a  ballad,  in  which  their  hilarity  was  set 
forth,  and  some  of  them  depicted  in  rather  unfavourable  colours. 
It  soon  appeared  in  London.  Mr.  Blair,  with  his  few  friends, 


*  The  second  Lewis  Burwell  had  nine  daughters,  one  of  whom  completely  upset 
what  little  reason  there  was  in  Governor  Nicholson  of  famous  memory.  He  became 
most  passionately  attached  to  her,  and  demanded  her  in  royal  style  of  her  parents. 
Neither  she,  her  parents,  or  other  members  of  the  family,  were  disposed  to  com- 
pliance. He  became  furious,  and  for  years  persisted  in  his  design  and  claim.  All 
around  felt  the  effects  of  it.  The  father  and  sons,  Commissary  Blair,  and  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Fouace,  minister  of  an  adjoining  parish,  were  the  especial  objects  of 
his  threatened  vengeance. 

To  the  young  lady  he  threatened  the  life  of  her  father  and  brothers  if  she  did 
not  yield  to  his  suit,  which  caused  a  friend  in  England  to  write  a  letter  of  remon- 
strance, in  which  he  says,  "It  is  not  here  as  in  some  barbarous  countries,  where 
the  tender  lady  is  dragged  into  the  Sultan's  arms  just  reeking  in  the  blood  of  her 
nearest  relatives,  and  yet  must  strangely  dissemble  her  aversion."  To  Commissary 
Blair  he  declared  that  "he  would  cut  the  throats  of  three  men,  (if  the  lady  should 
marry  any  other  man  than  himself,)  viz. :  the  bridegroom,  the  minister,  and  the 
justice  who  issued  the  license.  The  minister  of  the  parish,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Fouace,  in 
a  letter  to  the  Lord-Commissioners  in  England,  complains  of  being  assaulted  one 
evening,  on  his  return  from  a  visit  to  the  family,  (the  major  being  sick,)  by 
Governor  Nicholson,  and  commanded  never  again  to  go  to  this  house  without  leave 
from  himself.  It  seemed  that  the  Governor  was  jealous  of  him.  Besides  abusive 
language  and  other  indignities,  he  pulled  off  the  minister's  hat,  as  being  dis- 
respectful to  him,  the  Governor,  for  one  to  keep  on  his  hat,  even  on  horseback. 
Such  was  the  misconduct  of  the  Governor,  in  this  and  other  respects,  that  the 
Council  and  some  of  the  clergy  united  in  a  petition  to  the  Crown  for  his  removal, 
and  the  petition  was  granted.  All  this,  and  much  more,  is  on  record  in  the 
archives  of  Lambeth  Palace.  Copies  of  the  records  are  now  before  me.  What 
was  the  subsequent  history  of  the  young  lady — the  innocent  cause  of  so  much 
strife — is  not  told.  Even  her  Christian  name  is  not  given.  Perhaps  some  of  the 
descendants  of  the  family  may  find  it  out.  I  need  not  say,  that  if  a  Governor 
of  Virginia,  under  our  free  system,  should  assume  such  royal  airs,  the  case 
would  be  much  more  speedily  and  easily  disposed  of  by  the  lady,  the  parents, 
and  the  minister. 


160  OLD  CHUBCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

however,  (for  a  large  majority  of  the  clergy  present  were  against 
him, — 17  to  6,)  triumphed  again,  and  Mr.  Nicholson  was  recalled. 
In  his  place  Mr.  Nott,  an  amiable  man,  came  out,  and  the  Bishop 
of  London  sent  with  him  a  severe  letter  to  the  clergy,  begging 
them  not  uto  play  the  fool  any  more."  Mr.  Nott  died  in  a  short 
time,  much  esteemed  and  regretted. 

In  1710,  Colonel  Spottswood  was  appointed  Governor, — an  old 
soldier,  a  man  of  resolute  character,  of  liberal  views  on  many 
points,  but  a  most  ultra  man  for  the  royal  prerogative,  and  for  the 
transfer  of  it  to  the  Governor  of  Virginia.  For  some  years  he  and 
Mr.  Blair  agreed  well.  They  both  were  in  favour  of  efforts  for  the 
Indians.  Mr.  Blair  advocated  the  Governor's  favourite  enterprise, 
— the  ascending  the  Blue  Eidge  and  looking  upon  the  valley  be- 
yond. At  length  the  Governor  became  unpopular  with  the  House 
of  Burgesses  for  some  measures  supposed  to  be  high-handed,  and 
again  Colonel  Byrd  is  sent  over,  with  others,  to  bring  charges 
against  him,  and  was  more  successful  than  in  the  case  of  Mr. 
Blair.  About  this  time  Governor  Spottswood  got  into  a  difficulty 
with  the  vestry  of  St.  Anne's  parish,  Essex,  on  the  subject  of  the 
rights  of  the  vestries  and  Governors  in  the  matter  of  induction,  in 
which  he  claims  higher  powers  than  had  ever  been  claimed  before. 
The  Rev.  Hugh  Jones  had  been  in  England  and  reported  some 
things  to  the  Bishop  of  London  unfavourable  to  the  rubrical  ex- 
actness of  Mr.  Blair  and  others ;  and  evil  reports  also  as  to  the 
moral  character  of  some  of  the  clergy  were  rife  in  the  mother- 
country.  In  1719  the  Bishop  of  London  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
Governor  and  Commissary,  directing  a  convocation  of  the  clergy 
to  receive  a  communication  from  him.  At  their  meeting  the  letter 
is  read.  It  referred  to  some  reports  as  to  the  evil  conduct  of  the 
clergy  and  the  violation  of  the  rubrics.  Commissary  Blair  opens 
the  meeting  with  a  sermon  and  address.  The  Governor  calls  upon 
him  for  his  sermon,  which  he  immediately  sent.  The  Governor 
was  offended  at  something  in  it  touching  Government.  Perhaps 
the  Commissary,  even  at  that  day,  had  a  little  of  the  spirit  of 
American  independence  in  him.  The  Governor  also  sends  in  an 
address  to  the  clergy  in  reference  to  the  Bishop  of  London's  letter, 
which  he  had  previously  read.  He  opens  with  a  direct  assault  on 
Commissary  Blair,  saying  that  he  knew  of  no  clergyman  who 
transgressed  the  rubrics  except  the  Commissary,  who  sometimes 
let  a  layman  read  the  service  for  him  in  church,  and  even  the 
burial-service  in  his  presence,  and  wished  to  establish  lay-readers 
in  the  parishes.  He  also  charged  him  with  injuring  the  clergy  by 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  161 

opposing  their  induction,  &c.  To  all  this  the  Commissary  had  an 
easj  answer.  Once  or  twice,  when  unable  to  go  through  the  ser- 
vice through  sickness,  he  had  gotten  a  lay-reader  to  assist  him. 
On  some  occasion  he  may  have  passed  the  churchyard  when  a  clerk 
or  lay-reader  was  burying  some  one, — a  thing  very  common  in 
Virginia  at  that  time  by  reason  of  the  scarcity  of  clergymen,  and 
when  lay-readers  were  common  and  commanded  by  law.  As  to 
the  discouraging  of  induction,  he  shows  that  he  had  always  ad- 
vised it;  but  that  the  vestries  would  not  present  ministers  for 
this  purpose  to  the  Governor,  and  that  the  Governors  would  not 
use  the  privilege  granted  and  perform  the  duty  enjoined  upon  them 
by  the  royal  institution, — viz. :  after  six  months'  vacancy  to  present 
and  induct  if  the  vestry  did  not  supply  the  place.  As  to  his  own 
example,  he  said  that  he  could  not  help  it,  for  the  vestry  in  Wil- 
liamsburg  would  not  present  him  to  the  Governor  for  induction ; 
and  that  he,  (the  Governor,)  though  on  the  spot,  had  never  remon- 
strated against  it,  but,  on  the  contrary,  when  he  communicated  the 
fact  of  his  election  to  the  Governor  he  only  received  the  assurance 
of  the  pleasure  it  gave  him ;  not  one  word  being  said  about  induc- 
tion.* The  manuscript  of  the  journal  of  this  convocation  is  before 
me,  covering  some  forty  or  fifty  pages.  Neither  this  nor  any  other 
journal  of  the  Colonial  convocation  has  ever  been  in  print.  It 
is  one  of  the  most  interesting  documents  of  the  kind  I  ever  read, 
and  exhibits  in  a  clearer  light  the  true  condition  of  the  Church, 
and  character  of  the  clergy,  and  peculiarities  of  the  two  great 
combatants,  Spottswood  and  Blair,  than  can  be  seen  anywhere 


*  Another  insinuation  against  Dr.  Blair  by  the  Governor,  and  open  charge  by 
some  of  the  clergy,  was  that  he  had  never  been  Episcopally  ordained.  The  Bishop 
of  London,  in  his  letter,  inquired  -whether  any  of  those  officiating  in  Virginia  were 
without  Episcopal  orders.  In  reply  to  this,  some  of  them  expressed  their  doubts 
in  open  Assembly,  whether  Dr.  Blair's  papers  were  genuine.  This  was  also  satis- 
factorily answered.  The  triumph  of  Dr.  Blair  was  again  complete.  Governor 
Spottswood  was  superseded  in  1722  by  Governor  Drysdale ;  and  it  is  more  than 
probable  that  his  unfortunate  assault  upon  Dr.  Blair,  and  the  high  position  he 
assumed  in  regard  to  the  vestries,  who  were  the  Burgesses  of  the  country,  and 
opposed  to  Spottswood,  contributed  to  this.  Governor  Spottswood  evidently  felt 
his  defeat,  and  was  not  disposed  to  engage  in  another  contest  with  Dr.  Blair ;  for, 
in  a  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  speaking  of  some  steps  which  ought  to  be 
taken  in  relation  to  a  clergyman  supposed  to  be  an  evil  one,  and  who  had  been 
entertained  in  a  parish  in  preference  to  one  whom  he  had  appointed,  he  says, 
"That  I  must  remain  passive,  or  else  I  shall  raise  the  old  combustion  in  this 
government,  and  be  in  danger  of  drawing  your  Lordship's  Commissary  on  my  back 
again." 

11 


* 

162  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

else.  The  whole  history*  of  the  dispute  about  induction  is  also 
there  seen.  The  persevering  determination  of  the  vestries  as  to 
their  defensive  measures,  and  the  fearfulness  of  the  Governor,  the 
Council,  the  Bishop  of  London,  and  the  Crown,  to  come  into  colli- 
sion with  the  vestries,  is  there  plainly  seen.  Though  the  vestries 
doubtless  often  made  the  position  of  the  ministers  a  painfully-pre- 
carious one,  and  that  doubtless  prevented  some  good  men  from 
coming  over,  yet  these  were  -lesser  evils  than  would  result  from 
allowing  the  Governor  to  be  the  patron  of  all  the  livings,  with 
authority  to  send  to  and  keep  in  parishes  any  and  all  whom  he 
should  choose.  So  interesting  and  instructive  is  this  journal  be- 
yond that  of  any  meeting  ever  held  by  the  clergy  of  Virginia,  that 
I  shall  subjoin  the  document  in  an  appendix.  There  is  one  ques- 
tion, proposed  by  the  Bishop  of  London,  which  was  very  difficult 
to  be  managed, — viz. :  whether  any  of  them  knew  of  the  existence 
of  evil  livers  among  the  clergy.  It  was  first  proposed  in  the 
meeting  from  the  chair.  The  answer  was,  that  none  of  them  were 
personally  acquainted  with  any  notorious  evil  livers,  and  the  same 
was  introduced  into  an  answer  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  drawn  up 
by  the  committee.  It  was  a  trying  question,  and  was  doubtless 
evaded  by  denying  that  they  were  personally  acquainted  with  such. 
It  is  probable  that  the  notorious  evil  livers  did  not  attend  convoca- 
tions, especially  this,  as  they  might  have  heard  the  special  object 
of  it.  As  this  seems  to  be  a  proper  place  for  considering  this 
painful  question,  I  will  adduce  from  letters  addressed  to  the  Bishop 
of  London,  from  Governor  Drysdale,  Dr.  Blair,  and  others,  some 
passages  which  may  give  us  a  correct  view  of  it.  In  1723,  Mr. 
Blair,  in  writing  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  says : — 

"Bishop  Compton  directed  me  to  make  no  further  use  of  my  commis- 
sion than  to  keep  the  clergy  in  order ;  so  that  I  have  never  pretended  to 
set  up  any  spiritual  court  for  the  laity,  though  there  are  enormities  among 
them^which  want  to  be  redressed;  and,  as  to  the  clergy,  unless  they  are 
notoriously  scandalous,  I  have  found  it  necessary  to  content  myself  with 
admonitions ;  for,  if  I  lay  them  aside  by  suspension,  we  have  no  unpro- 
vided clergymen  to  put  in  their  place.  At  present  we  have  about  ten 
vacancies  and  no  minister  to  supply  them. 

He  complains  of  the  precariousness  of  the  ministers,  by  reason 
of  their  dependence  from  year  to  year  on  new  elections  by  the 
vestries.  "This  (he  says)  has  gone  on  so  long,  by  the  connivance 
of  Governors,  that  though  our  present  Governor  (Drysdale)  is  very 
willing  of  himself  to  redress  it,  yet  thinks  it  not  prudent  to  do  it 
without  an  instruction  from  his  Majesty."  Dr.  Blair  wished  the 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  16S 

Governor,  when  a  vacancy  of  more  than  six  months  occurred,  to 
send  and  induct  a  minister,  as  by  law  directed.  But  neither  the 
Governors — not  even  the  brave  Spottswood — dared  to  do  it,  nor 
did  his  Majesty  dare  order  it  to  be  done.  In  another  letter  from 
Mr.  Blair  to  a  worthy  clergyman,  Mr.  Forbs,  he  says : — 

"  I  met  with  the  Eev.  Mr.  Baylye  (the  one  referred  to  by  Governor 
Spottswood)  and  admonished  him  pretty  sharply,  but  I  do  not  hear  that 
it  has  had  the  desired  effect.  I  doubt  I  must  proceed  to  greater  severity 
with  him,  and  some  others.  But  the  difficulty  is  to  find  proof;  there 
being  many  who  will  cry  out  against  scandalous  ministers,  who  will  not 
appear  as  evidences  against  them.  I  hear  a  very  bad  character  of  Mr. 
Worthen,  and  I  understand  that  you  have  mentioned  him  in  a  letter  to 
the  Governor.  I  shall  take  it  kind  if  you  will  help  me  to  any  clear 
proofs  of  those  scandals ;  for,  although  for  want  of  clergymen  to  fill  the 
vacancies  I  prefer  to  lean  to  the  gentle  than  to  the  severe  side,  yet  cer- 
tainly the  behaviour  of  some  men  is  so  flagrant,  that  we  had  better  be 
without  ministers  than  to  be  served  with  such  as  are  scandals  to  the 
Gospel.  I  wish  you  your  health  and  success  in  the  ministry,  in  which 
you  set  so  good  an  example/7 

In  a  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  in  1724,  on  the  same 
subject,  he  says,  "I  have  never  made  but  two  examples  (that  is, 
of  withdrawing  their  licenses  during  the  Bishop's  pleasure)  in  all 
the  time  I  have  been  Commissary,  now  thirty-four  years;  and, 
indeed,  for  want  of  clergymen,  we  must  bear  with  those  we  have 
much  more  than  we  should  do."  In  the  same  year  a  joint  letter 
from  Governor  Drysdale  and  Mr.  Blair,  and  others  from  worthy 
clergymen,  confirm  the  above.  About  the  same  time,  several 
lengthy  communications  are  sent  over  to  England,  containing 
schemes  for  a  supply  of  more  and  better  ministers  for  Virginia, 
and  offering  some  suggestions  as  to  their  government  and  disci- 
pline. The  reigning  vice  among  the  clergy  at  that  time  was 
intemperance  ;  as  it  probably  has  been  ever  since  both  among  the 
clergy  and  laity  of  all  denominations,  having  given  great  trouble  to 
the  Church  of  every  age.  The  difficulty  of  proof  is  stated  in  one 
of  these  schemes  for  reformation ;  and  the  following  mortifying 
tests  of  intoxication  are  proposed  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  for  the 
trial  of  the  clergy  in  Virginia.  They  were  these : — 

"  Sitting  an  hour  or  longer  in  the  company  where  they  are  drinking 
strong  drink,  and  in  the  mean  time  drinking  of  healths,  or  otherwise 
taking  the  cups  as  they  come  rouni,  like  the  rest  of  the  company ;  strik- 
ing, and  challenging,  or  threatening  to  fight,  or  laying  aside  any  of  his 
garments  for  that  purpose;  staggering,  reeling,  vomiting;  incoherent,  im- 
pertinent, obscene,  or  rude  talking.  Let  the  proof  of  these  signs  proceed 


164  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

so  far,  till  the  judges  conclude  that  the  minister's  behaviour  at  such  a 
time  was  scandalous,  indecent,  unbecoming  the  gravity  of  a  minister." 

It  was  found  then,  as  it  ever  has  been,  that  one  great  source  of 
the  scandal  brought  upon  the  Church  of  God  by  the  intemperance  of 
clergy  and  laity,  is  to  be  found  in  the  difficulty  not  only  of  witnesses 
and  prosecutors,  but  of  deciding  when  excitement  from  intoxicating 
liquors  has  reached  that  point  which  must  be  regarded  as  the  sin 
of  drunkenness.  And  what  an  argument  this  should  be  with  both 
clergy  and  laity,  but  especially  the  former,  to  abstain  altogether, 
lest  they  should  appear  to  be,  or  be  charged  with,  or  suspected  of 
this  sin ! 

I  have  thus  brought  to  a  close  my  remarks  on  the  chief  incidents 
in  the  life  of  Dr.  Blair,  and  the  peculiar  points  of  his  character. 
Our  impression  of  him  is,  that,  though  he  could  not  be  otherwise 
than  busy,  considering  all  the  offices  he  held  and  the  relation  he 
bore  to  others,  yet  that  the  charge  brought  against  him  by  some, 
that  he  was  too  busy,  had  truth  in  it.  His  most  minute  details  of 
things  said  and  done,  in  his  long  and  tedious  though  well-written 
letters  to  England  furnish  proof  of  this.  Still,  we  must  esteem 
him  a  sincere  Christian  and  a  most  laborious  man  in  the  perform- 
ance of  duty  in  all  his  official  relations.  The  College  owed  its 
existence  to  him,  and  was  probably  as  well  managed  by  him  as 
times  and  circumstances  allowed ;  and  it  is  probable  that  his  faithful 
preaching  and  correct  moral  deportment  did  much  to  stem  that 
torrent  of  wickedness  which,  in  his  day,  flowed  over  England  and 
America.  Few  men  ever  contended  with  more  difficulties  or  sur- 
mounted them  better  than  Dr.  Blair.  Few  clergymen  ever  were 
engaged  with  such  fierce  opponents  in  high  stations,  and  who  not 
only  bore  up  manfully  against  them,  but  actually  overcame  them. 
Governors  of  distant  provinces  have  ever  been  proverbially  corrupt 
and  tyrannical  men.  Such  were  Andros  and  Nicholson.  Spotts- 
wood  was  a  nobler  spirit,  but  he  was  brought  up  a  soldier,  and  rose 
to  high  command  in  the  English  army,  and  had  there  learned  both 
to  obey  and  command.  As  Governor  of  Virginia,  he  thought  it 
was  his  province  to  command,  and  that  of  all  others  to  obey ;  but 
Dr.  Blair  thought  there  were  limits  to  submission.  They  were 
both  of  them  benefactors  to  Virginia.  Had  there  been  many  such 
before  and  after,  it  would  have  been  well  for  the  State.  Of  Dr. 
Blair  I  have  nothing  more  to  say,  but  that,  in  a  letter  from  Go- 
vernor Gooch  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  at  his  death,  he  informs 
him  that  the  Commissary  left  his  library  and  five  hundred  pounds 
to  the  College,  and  ten  thousand  pounds  to  his  nephew  and  the 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  165 

children  of  his  nephew,  besides  some  smaller  legacies.  His  nephew 
was  Mr.  John  Blair,  who  was  so  long  President  of  the  Council, 
and  whose  character  was  of  the  highest  order.  The  son  of  this 
John  Blair  (whose  name  was  also  John)  was  distinguished  as  a 
patriot,  statesman,  and  jurist.  He  represented  the  College  of 
William  and  Mary  in  the  House  of  Burgesses  for  a  long  time, 
took  an  active  part  in  all  the  Revolutionary  movements,  was  a 
member  of  the  great  Convention  which  met  to  revise  the  Articles 
of  Confederation,  and,  finally,  was  one  of  the  Supreme  Federal 
Court. 

GOVERNOR    SPOTTSWOOD   AND   HIS   FAMILY. 

The  following  sketch  has  been  furnished  me,  at  my  request,  by 
one  of  the  descendants  in  Virginia,  and  I  take  pleasure  in  adding 
it  to  this  article. 

"  Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  his  History  of  Scotland,  says : — 
" '  The  Parliament,  consisting  entirely  of  Covenanters,  instigated  by  the 
importunity  of  the  clergy,  condemned  eight  of  the  most  distinguished 
Cavaliers  to  execution.  Four  were  appointed  to  suffer  at  St.  Andrew's,  t 
that  their  blood  might  atone  for  the  number  of  men  (said  to  exceed  five 
thousand)  which  the  county  of  Fife  had  lost  during  the  Montrose  wars. 
Lord  Ogilvey  was  the  first  of  these,  but  that  young  nobleman  escaped 
from  prison  and  death  in  his  sister's  clothes.  Colonel  Nathaniel  Gordon, 
one  of  the  best  soldiers  and  bravest  men  in  Europe,  and  six  other  Cava- 
liers of  the  first  distinction,  were  actually  executed.  We  may  particularly 
distinguish  the  fate  of  Sir  Robert  Spottswood,  who,  when  the  wars  broke 
out,  was  Lord-President  of  the  Court  of  Sessions,  and  accounted  a  judge 
of  talent  and  learning.  He  had  never  borne  arms ;  but  the  circumstance 
of  having  brought  Montrose  his  commission  of  Captain-General  of  Scot- 
land was  thought  quite  worthy  of  death,  without  any  further  act  of  trea- 
son against  the  estates.  When,  on  the  scaffold,  he  vindicated  his  conduct 
with  the  dignity  of  a  judge  and  the  talent  of  a  lawyer,  he  was  silenced 
by  the  Provost  of  St.  Andrew's,  who  was  formerly  a  servant  of  his  father's 
when  Prelate  of  that  city.  The  victim  submitted  to  that  indignity  with 
calmness,  and  betook  himself  to  his  private  devotions :  he  was  soon  in 
this  last  act  interrupted  by  the  Presbyterian  minister  in  attendance,  who 
demanded  of  him  if  he  desired  the  benefit  of  his  prayers  and  those  of  the 
assembled  people.  Sir  Robert  replied,  that  he  earnestly  desired  the 
prayers  of  the  people,  but  rejected  those  of  the  speaker;  for  that,  in  his 
opinion,  God  had  expressed  his  displeasure  against  Scotland  by  sending  a 
lying  spirit  into  the  mouth  of  the  prophets,  a  far  greater  curse  than  those 
of  fire,  sword,  and  pestilence.  An  old  servant  of  his  family  took  care  of 
his  body  and  buried  him  privately;  and  it  is  said  of  the  faithful  domestic, 
that,  passing  through  the  market-place  a  day  or  two  afterwards,  and,  see- 
ing the  scafibld  still  standing  and  stained  with  his  master's  blood,  he  was 
so  much  affected  that  he  sunk  down  in  a  swoon  and  died  as  they  were 
lifting  him  over  his  own  threshold.' 


OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

• 

"  His  son,  Alexander  Spottswood,  was  aide-de-camp  to  the  Duke  of  Marl- 
borough.  Afterward,  he  was  Governor  of  Virginia.  He  married  Jane 
Butler,  sister  of  the  Duke  of  Ormond,  by  whom  he  had  two  sons — John 
and  Robert;  and  two  daughters — Catherine  and  Dorethea:  Catherine  mar- 
ried Bernard  Moore,  and  Dorethea,  Nathaniel  Dandridge.  Robert  was 
killed  by  the  Indians  on  an  expedition  with  his  father  beyond  the  Alle- 
ghanies.  Whom  John,  my  grandfather,  married,  I  am  not  certain;  but  I 
think  she  was  Mary  Dandridge,  the  sister  of  Nathaniel  Dandridge.  He 
had  two  sons — Alexander  and  John;  and  two  daughters — Mary  and  Ann. 
Mary  married  Mr.  Peter  Randolph.  John  married  Mary  Rouzey,  of  Essex 
county,  by  whom  he  had  numerous  children.  Alexander  (my  father)  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Washington,  daughter  of  Augustine  Washington,  and  niece 
of  General  George  Washington,  by  whom  he  had  seven  children,  myself 
the  youngest.  My  father  was  a  Brigadier-General  in  the  Revolution :  his 
brother  John  was  a  captain.  I  think  I  have  given  you  a  correct  account 
of  the  genealogy  of  the  Spottswood  family.  There  is  a  difference  in  spell- 
ing the  name  in  this  and  the  Old  World,  the  original  name  being  spelt 
Spottiswood.*" 

*  A  worthy  antiquary  of  Virginia  thinks  that  Governor  Spottiswood  was  not 
the  son  of  Sir  Robert  Spottiswood,  who  was  executed  in  Scotland,  but  the  grand- 
son ;  that  his  father  was  named  Robert,  but  was  a  physician  who  died  at  Tangier, 
in  Africa,  in  1680,  his  son  Alexander  being  born  there  in  1676.  He  also  thinks 
that  the  name  of  Governor  Spottiswood's  wife  was  Anne  Butler  Bryan,  the  latter 
part  being  usually  pronounced  Brain,  the  middle  name  being  taken  from  her  god- 
father, James  Butler,  Duke  of  Orniond.  He  also  states  that  Robert  Spottiswood 
died  near  Fort  Cumberland,  in  1757,  when  serving  under  Washington,  being  killed, 
supposed,  by  the  Indians. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  167 


ARTICLE  XIII. 

Williamslurg^  Bruton  Parish. — No.  3. 

WITH  the  death  of  Mr.  Blair  closed  all  conflicts,  so  far  as 
is  shown,  between  Commissaries  and  Governors.  The  Rev.  Wil- 
liam Dawson  was  chosen  Commissary  and  President  of  the  Col- 
lege, while  his  brother,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Dawson,  was  called  to  the 
rectorship  of  the  church,  Mr.  Gooch  being  Governor.  All  the  let- 
ters of  Governor  Gooch  and  Commissary  Dawson  to  the  Bishop  of 
London  show  them  to  be  truly  anxious  to  promote  the  best  inte- 
rests of  the  colony,  though  many  difficulties  seem  to  have  impeded 
its  prosperity  and  prevented  a  supply  of  worthy  ministers.  One 
thing  is  set  forth  in  praise  of  William  and  Mary  College,  which  we 
delight  to  record, — viz. :  that  the  hopes  and  designs  of  its  founders 
and  early  benefactors,  in  relation  to  its  being  a  nursery  of  pious 
ministers,  were  not  entirely  disappointed.  It  is  positively  affirmed 
by  those  most  competent  to  speak,  that  the  best  ministers  in  Vir- 
ginia were  those  educated  at  the  College  and  sent  over  to  England 
for  ordination.  The  foreigners  were  the  great  scandal  of  the 
Church.  No  vigilance  on  the  part  of  the  Bishop  of  London,  the 
Governor  or  Commissaries,  could  'altogether  prevent  this.  Nor 
was  the  discipline  exerted  over  the  clergy,  whether  foreign  or  do- 
mestic, calculated  to  be  a  terror  to  evil-doers.  We  have  seen 
what  Dr.  Blair  acknowledged  as  to  his  forbearance  ;  and  yet  there 
was  more  of  clerical  discipline  under  his  supervision  than  at  any 
subsequent  period.  We  read  of  none  under  the  first  of  the  Daw- 
sons.  When  Mr.  Thomas  Dawson,  who  succeeded  his  brother  as 
Commissary,  (Mr.  Stith  being  called  to  the  Presidency  of  the  Col- 
lege,} was  in  office,  a  most  flagrant  case  called  so  loudly  for  notice 
that  Governor  Dinwiddie  summoned  the  offender  (the  Rev.  Mr. 
Brunskill,  of  Prince  William)  to  Williamsburg,  and  on  trial  dis- 
missed him  from  his  parish.  Mr.  Dawson,  however,  shrunk  from 
the  proceeding,  expressing  a  doubt  whether  they  were  authorized 
to  exercise  discipline.  If  what  his  successor,  Mr.  Robinson,  stated 
to  the  Bishop  of  London  be  true,  there  must  have  been  a  secret  con- 
sciousness of  unworthiness  which  operated  upon  the  mind  of  Mr. 


168  OLD    CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  AND 

Dawson, viz. :  that  he  himself  in  his  latter  years  became  addicted 

to  drink,  to  such  an  extent  that  the  Visitors  of  the  College  arraigned 
him  for  it,  hut  let  it  pass  on  the  plea  that  his  troubles  in  office,  as 
President  and  Commissary,  so  pressed  upon  him  as  to  make  him 
resort  to  this  wretched  refuge  for  consolation.  It  was  in  the  time 
of  the  first  of  these  brothers  that  the  troubles  about  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Davis,  the  Presbyterian  minister,  took  place  ;  and  in  the  time  of 
the  second,  that  the  great  tobacco-question  agitated  the  Church 
and  State,  and  about  each  of  which  I  shall  have  something  to  say 
in  the  proper  place.  The  huge  folio  volume  of  manuscripts  from 
Lambeth  and  Fulham  Palaces  which  lie  before  me  contains  a  num- 
ber of  letters  and  memorials  on  these  subjects  from  which  to  draw 
materials.  At  the  death  of  the  second  Mr.  Dawson,  the  Rev. 
William  Yates,  of  Gloucester,  one  of  that  family  which  so  abounded 
in  ministers,  succeeded  to  the  rectorship  of  the  church  and 
Presidency  of  the  College,  while  the  Rev.  William  Robinson,  of 
King  and  Queen,  was  made  Commissary.  Mr.  Yates,  dying  in 
1764,  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Horrocks,  in  the  College 
and  the  church,  and  about  the  same  time,  at  the  death  of  Commis- 
sary Robinson,  he  was  appointed  to  that  office  also. 

In  the  year  1771,  a  meeting  of  the  clergy  was  called  by  Mr. 
Horrocks,  at  the  request  of  some  of  the  Northern  clergy,  to  con- 
sider the  subject  of  applying  for  an  American  Episcopate.  The 
desirableness  of  this,  in  order  to  complete  the  organization  of  our 
Church  for  the  benefit  of  Episcopalians,  without  requiring  others 
to  be  subjected  to  it,  had  been  felt  by  its  friends  on  both  sides  of 
the  water  for  a  long  time.  Various  plans  had  been  proposed  for 
its  accomplishment ;  but  difficulties,  civil  and  religious,  (of  whose 
force  it  is  impossible  that  we,  at  this  distance  of  time,  should  be 
proper  judges,)  interposed  and  prevented.  Enemies  to  the  scheme, 
both  in  England  and  America,  were  always  ready  to  rise  up  against 
it  with  political  and  religious  objections.  At  length,  when  Episco- 
palians began  to  increase  in  the  Middle  and  Northern  States, 
(though  still  a  small  band,)  the  press  was  resorted  to  in  advocacy 
of  the  measure.  Dr.  Chandler,  an  eminent  divine  of  our  Church 
in  New  Jersey,  took  the  lead  in  defence  of  the  measure.  An  effort 
was  made  to  combine  the  Episcopalians  of  Virginia  with  those  of 
the  North,  in  a  petition  to  the  throne  for  an  American  Episcopate. 
Mr.  Horrocks,  the  Commissary  of  Virginia,  induced  by  various 
pressing  letters  from  the  North,  called  a  convocation  of  the  clergy, 
to  be  held  in  Williamsburg  on  the  4th  of  May,  1771,  without  men- 
tioning the  object  of  it.  But  few  attended,  and  they,  on  being 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  169 

informed  of  the  object,  determined  that  it  was  too  grave  a  matter 
to  be  decided  on  by  so  small  a  number,  and  that  another  call  should 
be  made,  specifying  the  object  of  the  meeting.  Another  call  was 
accordingly  made  for  the  4th  of  June,  when  only  twelve  appeared, 
a  smaller  number  than  before,  although  many  more  than  these  lived 
very  near  the  place  of  assemblage,  and  about  one  hundred  were  in 
the  diocese.  There  must,  of  course,  have  been  some  serious  objec- 
tion, in  the  minds  of  the  great  body  of  the  clergy,  to  taking  any 
part  in  it,  for  the  subject  was  not  new,  having  been  under  discus- 
sion for  some  time  in  the  Northern  papers.  After  some  delibera- 
tion, it  was  determined  not  to  address  the  crown,  but  to  ask  advice 
of  the  Bishop  of  London, — the  good  Bishop  Porteus, — who,  in  a 
sermon,  recommended  the  measure,  but  only  in  the  event  of  the 
Government,  in  its  wisdom,  favouring  the  plan.  It  was  thought 
proper,  therefore,  first  to  apply  to  him  as  the  Diocesan  and  the 
warm  friend  of  Virginia,  where  his  parents  had  resided  and  he 
was  perhaps  born.  This  was  passed  by  a  unanimous  vote.  And 
yet,  by  one  of  those  unaccountable  revolutions  which  sometimes 
takes  place  in  public  bodies,  before  the  final  adjournment,  the  ques- 
tion was  reconsidered,  the  vote  reversed,  and  a  direct  petition  to  the 
King  determined  upon,  two  only  dissenting,  who  were  afterward 
joined  by  two  others  in  a  protest,  with  the  reasons  thereof.  It  was 
resolved  that  the  votes  of  a  majority  must  be  obtained  in  some 
other  way.  But  we  hear  nothing  more  of  it.  This  protest  of  the 
Rev.  Messrs.  Gwatkin  and  Henly,  Professors  in  the  College,  and 
Bland  and  Hewitt,  ministers  of  parishes,  called  forth  a  pamphlet 
from  the  united  Conventions  of  the  clergy  of  New  York  and  New 
Jersey  in  condemnation,  and  a  reply  of  the  protesters  in  defence. 
These  were  followed  by  various  others,  of  the  most  severe  and 
bitter  character,  by  different  persons  in  the  Northern  and  Middle 
States.  I  have  seen  them  all  bound  up  in  a  number  of  volumes, 
and  read  some  of  them.  Many  of  those,  in  small  pamphlets  or  in 
newspapers,  were  written  by  those  of  other  denominations,  who 
were  entirely  opposed  to  the  introduction  of  Episcopacy;  and  I 
feel  confident  that  the  Stamp  Act,  and  the  tax  on  tea  and  other 
articles,  did  not  draw  forth  more  violent  denunciations  and  threat- 
enings  than  were  spread  throughout  the  Northern  States  against 
this  proposal.  All  New  England  was  in  a  flame.  It  may  well 
appear  strange  that  so  many  Episcopal  clergyman  as  were  in  Vir- 
ginia should  appear  indifferent  to  a  measure  so  suitable  and  neces- 
sary to  the  perfect  organization  and  effectual  working  of  our  sys- 
tem, and  it  is  right  that  their  reasons,  not  only  for  indifference, 


170  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

but  even  opposition,  should  be  stated.  It  appears,  from  what  was 
written  in  their  defence,  that  there  was  but  one  opinion  as  to  the 
propriety  and  desirableness  of  the  object,  but  only  diversity  as  to 
the  time  and  manner  of  effecting  it.  It  was  declared  that  all  things 
were  unfavourable  to  it  at  that  time.  The  difficulties  about  the  Stamp 
Act  were  not  over.  There  was  a  root  of  bitterness  still  remaining 
in  consequence  of  some  deceptive  measures  charged  on  the  British 
ministry  in  connection  with  its  repeal.  Other  causes  of  dissatis- 
faction were  arising.  There  was  a  filial  feeling  in  Virginians  toward 
the  mother-country  and  Church,  which  made  them  averse  to  war 
and  separation,  and  they  wished  to  avoid  every  thing  which  would 
hasten  it ;  and  yet  there  was  a  strong  and  firm  determination  not  to 
continue  the  union  except  upon  honourable  terms.  Their  just 
rights  they  would  maintain  at  all  hazards.  They  believed  that  the 
proposition  for  an  American  Episcopate,  no  matter  how  modified 
the  plan,  was  so  offensive  to  all  other  Protestant  bodies,  both  in 
this  country  and  England,  that,  united  with  other  causes  which 
were  increasing  every  day,  it  must  decide  the  question  of  war  if 
agreed  to.  The  violent  tones  of  the  press  on  this  subject  were 
enough  to  justify  the  apprehension.  But  there  was  another  very 
general  source  of  fear  throughout  the  land.  It  was  believed  that 
if  Bishops  should  be  sent  they  would  be  men,  like  the  Governors, 
favouring  the  royal  pretensions  instead  of  American  rights,  and 
thus  weakening  the  cause  of  proper  independence.  On  this 
account,  Bishop  White,  in  his  Memoirs,  expresses  the  belief  "  that 
it  would  have  been  impossible  to  have  obtained  the  concurrence  of 
a  respectable  number  of  laymen  in  any  measure  for  obtaining  an 
American  Bishop."  He  appeals  to  the  conduct  of  Virginia,  where, 
if  anywhere  in  the  land,  such  concurrence  might  be  expected. 
And  yet,  ..nowhere  was  opposition  greater  than  in  Virginia,  and 
among  Episcopalians,  under  existing  circumstances.  We  have 
seen  the  jealousies  of  the  vestries  as  to  the  attempt  of  Governors 
and  wishes  of  Commissaries  and  clergy  to  deprive  them  of  the 
right  to  choose  and  displace  their  own  ministers.  The  Governors 
claimed  to  be  Bishops,  or  in  the  place  of  Bishops,  and  to  have  the 
right  of  inducting  ministers  for  life,  and,  in  many  instances,  of 
choosing  them  and  presenting  them.  If  Bishops  should  be  sent, 
they  would  assuredly  claim  as  much,  if  not  more,  and  be  more 
likely  to  obtain  it,  and  also  to  have  greater  power  of  discipline. 
The  laity,  therefore,  were  on  this  account  fearful  of  the  experi- 
ment, and  preferred  losing  the  benefit  of  the  rite  of  confirmation 
for  a  time,  than  be  saddled  with  a  power  greater  than  Governors 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  171 

and  Commissaries  had  been  able  to  erect.  In  proof  of  this  general 
aversion  of  the  laity  in  Virginia  to  the  proposal  of  a  Bishop  or 
Bishops,  we  find  that  soon  after  the  small  meeting  of  the  clergy  at 
Williamsburg  which  voted  a  petition  to  the  Crown,  the  House  of 
Burgesses  met  and  unanimously  passed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  few 
who  protested  for  the  course  they  pursued.  The  thanks  were  car- 
ried them  by  two  gentlemen  whose  attachment  to  the  Church  cannot 
be  questioned, — Colonel  Bland  and  Richard  Henry  Lee,  the  latter 
of  whom  was  our  most  active  agent  with  the  Court  of  St.  James 
in  obtaining  our  Episcopacy  immediately  after  the  Revolution.  In 
proof  that  it  was  not  a  want  of  due  regard  to  the  Episcopal  office, 
but  a  conviction  that  it  could  not  be  obtained  in  such  a  manner 
at  that  time  as  to  comport  with  our  civil  and  religious  liberties, 
which  made  the  Virginia  laity  and  very  many  of  the  clergy  to 
object,  we  would  mention  the  fact  that,  so  soon  as  we  were  free  to 
establish  it  on  right  principles,  the  very  men  who,  in  the  House  of 
Burgesses  and  elsewhere,  were  most  opposed  to  it,  now  came  for- 
ward to  our  Episcopal  Convention  and  zealously  advocated  the 
establishment  of  Episcopacy.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
general  feeling  of  the  nation,  and  of  no  part  of  it  more  than  of 
Virginia,  was  that  America  was  destined  to  independence,  though  it 
was  not  wished  to  hasten  it  by  a  bloody  war.  Can  any  one  doubt 
that  the  thought  was  often  in  the  minds  of  our  truest  men,  that  the 
time  for  establishing  our  Episcopacy  would  not  be  until  we  could 
do  it  untrammelled  by  our  connection  with  and  subjection  to  Eng- 
land ?  She,  said  some,  is  illy  able  to  establish  her  own  Episcopacy 
aright,  much  less  one  for  us.  Trammelled  as  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land is  by  the  State,  her  Bishops  are  almost  powerless  for  dis- 
cipline, so  complicated  and  expensive  the  machinery  by  which  they 
must  exercise  it.  Few  as  were  the  instances  of  clerical  discipline 
under  our  Commissaries  and  Governors,  it  was  believed  that  they 
were  far  more  numerous  than  during  the  same  period  under  the 
Bishops  of  England ;  and  if  we  had  Bishops,  they  of  course  must 
be  governed  by  the  same  laws  as  in  England,  whereas  the  Go- 
vernor, acting  under  some  general  instruction  from  the  crown,  has 
more  liberty,  especially  when  such  a  spirit  as  that  of  Spottswood 
ruled  the  Colony.  A  candid  investigation  of  the  whole  subject 
will  therefore  lead  to  the  same  conclusion  to  which  Dr.  Hawks,  an 
able  jurist  as  well  as  eloquent  divine  and  faithful  historian,  did, 
when  he  says,  in  his  work  on  Virginia,  "  At  this  distance  of  time, 
it  will  probably  be  acknowledged  that,  on  the  question  of  expe- 
diency, the  Virginia  clergy  judged  wisely.  In  the  temper  of  the 


172  OLD   CHURCHES, 

times,  the  application  coulcl  not  but  have  proved  unsuccessful :  to 
make  it,  therefore,  could  only  serve  to  exasperate  a  large  portion 
of  the  Colonists,  without  the  prospect  of  obtaining  the  end  de- 
sired." 

That  the  laity  of  Virginia,  as  represented  by  the  Burgesses,  had 
reason  to  complain  of  the  attempt  of  the  clergy  to  manage  this 
delicate  and  important  matter  without  any  conference  with  them, 
seeing  that  they  were  so  deeply  interested  in  the  matter,  cannot  be 
denied.  In  their  meeting  was  no  lay  element  whatever.  One  of 
the  protesters  stated  this,  and  proposed  consulting  with  the  Go- 
vernor, Council,  and  Burgesses;  but  one  of  the  leaders  of  the 
measure  acknowledged  that  they  would  certainly  be  opposed  to  it, 
and  therefore  objected  to  the  reference.  The  protesters,  in  their 
defence,  make  use  of  this  argument,  and  say  that,  to  establish  a 
measure  of  this  kind,  without  the  co-operation  of  the  laity,  would 
be  to  adopt  the  Popish  system  of  a  spiritual  dominion  within  the 
State,  entirely  independent  of  it  and  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of 
the  people.  The  lay  element  in  England  was  the  King,  Parlia- 
ment, and  mixed  courts ;  the  lay  element  here  had  been  the  Go- 
vernor and  Council,  House  of  Burgesses,  and  vestries  ;  but  now  all 
those  were  dispensed  with,  and  the  clergy  proposed  to  act  without 
advice  and  independent  of  these, — that  is,  the  few  who  adopted  and 
signed  the  petition ;  for  the  greater  part  stayed  at  home,  well  know- 
ing the  opposition  of  the  laity.  The  protesters,  in  their  reply,  charge 
their  opponents  at  the  North  with  a  leaning  to  the  Non-juring 
Bishops  of  Scotland,  whom  they  call  schismatics,  and  bid  them,  if 
they  wished  Bishops,  apply  to  them,  and  thus  set  up  a  separate 
Church  without  the  support  of  the  State ;  but  not  to  disturb  the 
peace  of  the  land  by  endeavouring  to  involve  the  Government  of 
England  in  the  measure.  They  also  intimate  that  some  private 
objects — perhaps  ecclesiastical  aspirations — influenced  the  great 
and  sudden  change  in  the  meeting  at  Williamsburg.  Mr.  Camm 
had  recently  been  disappointed  in  succeeding  to  the  Commissary's 
place,  at  the  death  of  Mr.  Robinson,  in  consequence  of  some  diffi- 
culties with  Governor  Dinwiddie ;  and  Mr.  Horrocks  was  suspected 
of  some  desires  for  the  mitre.  These  were  the  leaders  among  the 
clergy.  President  Nelson,  of  York,  writing  to  a  friend  in  London 
at  this  time,  says : — 

"We  do  not  want  Bishops;  and  yet,  from  our  principles,  I  hardly  think 
we  should  oppose  such  an  establishment.  Nor  will  the  laity  apply  for 
them,-— Colonel  Corbin  having  assured  me  that  he  has  received  no  petition 
to  be  signed,  nor  any  thing  else  about  it  from  Dr.  Porteus ;  but  Mr.  Hor- 


FAMILIES  OF  VIRGINIA.  178 

rocks,  the  Bishop  of  London's  Commissary  here,  hath  invited  all  the 
clergy  of  the  Colony  to  meet  him  soon,  in  order  to  consider  of  an  appli- 
cation for  this  purpose ;  which  he  tells  me  he  has  done  in  compliance  with 
the  pressing  instances  of  some  of  the  Episcopal  clergy  northward.  This 
gentleman  goes  to  England  for  his  health  this  summer :  possibly  a  mitre 
may  be  his  polar  star,  for  we  know  that  there  is  much  magnetic  virtue  in 
such  dignities,  and  I  tell  him  he  will  be  too  late  if  he  does  not  embark 
soon.*  To  which  he,  with  the  usual  modesty  on  such  occasions,  replies, 
'Nolo  Episcopari.'" 

As  the  clergy  met  in  secret,  the  President  could  not  then  tell 
what  they  were  about,  but  promises  to  write  his  friend  hereafter. 

The  vestry-book  ceases  in  the  year  1769,  while  Mr.  Horrocks 
was  minister,  all  the  leaves  being  filled  up.  Doubtless  a  new  one 
was  gotten  and  records  made  in  it ;  but  it  is  nowhere  to  be  found. 
Mr.  Horrocks  was  rector  of  the  parish,  President  of  the  College, 
and  Commissary  as  late  as  1771.  He  was  succeeded  in  all  these 
by  the  Rev.  John  Camm,  who  continued  until  1777,  when  Mr. 
Madison  became  President  of  the  College. 

We  must  here  cease  from  the  private  history  of  the  parish  for  a 
brief  space,  in  order  to  introduce  a  memorable  passage  from  the 
history  of  the  State,  which  occurred  within  the  bounds  of  this 
parish.  The  decisive  step  was  now  about  to  be  taken  by  the  Co- 
lonies in  relation  to  the  mother-country.  They  had  denounced  and 
renounced  her  as  a  cruel  step-mother ;  they  were  about  to  take  up 
arms  and  appeal  to  the  God  of  battles  to  aid  them  in  the  defence 
of  their  just  rights.  The  patriots  of  Virginia  determined  to  do 
this  with  the  most  solemn  forms  of  religion.  On  the  24th  of  May, 
1774,  the  members  of  the  Assembly,  at  their  meeting  in  Williams- 
burg,  after  setting  forth  in  a  well-written  preamble  the  condition 
of  the  country,  the  evils  already  oppressing  us,  the  dangers  to  be 
feared,  and  their  determination  to  assert  our  just  rights,  "re- 
solved to  set  apart  a  day  for  fasting,  humiliation,  and  prayer ;  and 
ordered  that  the  members  of  the  House  do  attend  in  their  places, 
at  the  hour  of  ten  in  the  morning,  on  the  first  day  of  June  next, 
in  order  to  proceed,  with  the  Speaker  and  the  mace,  to  the  church 
in  this  city  for  the  purpose  aforesaid ;  and  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Price 
be  requested  to  read  prayers,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gwatkin  to  preach 


*  I  suppose  he  meant  that  the  Government,  if  favourable  to  the  measure,  would 
give  it  to  some  one  in  England.  It  is  a  fact  clearly  proved  by  his  own  letters  to 
Governor  Hunter,  of  New  York,  that  when  at  some  previous  period  it  was  thought 
probable  that  a  Bishop  would  be  sent  to  America,  Dean  Swift  wished  and  expected 
to  be  the  Bishop. 


174  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

a  sermon  suitable  to  the*  occasion."  The  following  extract  of  a 
letter  from  George  Mason,  of  Fairfax,  a  neighbour  and  friend  of 
Washington,  who  was  in  Williamsburg  at  the  time,  though  not  a 
member  of  the  House,  (Washington  being  the  delegate,)  will  show 
the  religious  feeling  of  the  members.  It  is  addressed  to  Martin 
Cockburn,  one  of  his  pious  neighbours. 

"Enclosed  you  have  the  Boston  Trade  Act  and  a  resolve  of  our  House 
of  Burgesses.  You  will  observe  that  it  is  confined  to  the  members  of 
their  own  House;  but  they  would  wish  to  see  the  example  followed 
through  the  country ;  for  which  purpose  the  members,  at  their  own  pri- 
vate expense,  are  sending  expresses  with  the  resolve  to  their  respective 
counties.  Mr.  Massie  (the  minister  of  Fairfax)  will  receive  a  copy  of  the 
resolve  from  Colonel  Washington  '}  and,  should  a  day  of  prayer  and  fasting 
be  appointed  in  our  county,  please  to  tell  my  dear  little  family  that  I 
charge  them  to  pay  a  strict  attention  to  it,  and  that  I  desire  my  three 
eldest  sons  and  my  two  oldest  daughters  may  attend  church  in  mourning, 
if  they  have  it,  as  I  believe  they  have." 

This  speaks  well  for  the  faith,  and  humble  dependence  on  God, 
which  dwelt  in  the  breasts  of  our  Virginia  patriots.  There  were 
those,  even  then,  among  them,  who  had  unhappily  imbibed  the 
infidel  principles  of  France ;  but  they  were  too  few  to  raise  their 
voices  against  those  of  Washington,  Nicholas,  Pendleton,  Ran- 
dolph,  Mason,  Lee,  Nelson,  and  such  like.  And  in  proof  that 
they  were  disposed  to  go  further  than  mere  prayer  and  fasting,  a 
few  years  after,  in  the  year  1778,  when  the  American  Congress 
added  to  their  appointment  of  a  day  of  prayer  and  humiliation,  a 
condemnation  of  certain  evil  customs  and  practices  as  offensive  to 
the  God  whose  favour  they  sought  to  propitiate,  we  find  our  dele- 
gates, Richard  Henry  Lee  and  Marsden  Smith,  uniting  with  others 
in  voting  for  and  carrying  the  measure.  The  resolution  is  as 
follows : — 

"  Whereas,  true  religion  and  good  morals  are  the  only  solid  foundation  of 
public  liberty  and  happiness,  Resolved,  that  it  be,  and  is,  hereby  earnestly 
recommended  to  the  several  States,  to  take  the  most  effectual  measures 
for  the  encouragement  thereof,  and  for  the  suppressing  of  theatrical  en- 
tertainments, horse-racing,  and  gaming,  and  such  other  diversions  as  are 
productive  of  idleness,  dissipation,  and  a  general  depravity  of  manners." 

Had  there  not  been  in  all  parts  of  our  land  a  goodly  number  of 
our  citizens  of  such  a  spirit  and  views,  God  might  not  have  in- 
trusted such  a  gift  as  national  independence  to  our  keeping.  It  is, 
however,  deeply  to  be  lamented  that  the  successful  termination  of 
the  war,  and  all  the  rich  blessings  attending  it,  did  not  produce  the 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  175 

gratitude  to  the  Giver  which  was  promised  by  the  hearts  of  our 
people  in  the  day  of  danger  and  supplication.  The  intimacy  pro- 
duced between  infidel  France  and  our  own  country,  by  the  union 
of  our  arms  against  the  common  foe,  was  most  baneful  in  its 
influence  with  our  citizens  generally,  and  on  none  more  than  those 
of  Virginia.  The  grain  of  mustard-seed  which  was  planted  at 
Williamsburg,  about  the  middle  of  the  century,  had  taken  root 
there  and  sprung  up  and  spread  its  branches  over  the  whole  State, 
— the  stock  still  enlarging  and  strengthening  itself  there,  and  the 
roots  shooting  deeper  into  the  soil.  At  the  end  of  the  century  the 
College  of  William  and  Mary  was  regarded  as  the  hotbed  of  infi- 
delity and  of  the  wild  politics  of  France.  Strong  as  the  Virginia 
feeling  was  in  favour  of  the  Alma  Mater  of  their  parents,  the 
Northern  Colleges  were  filled  with  the  sons  of  Virginia's  best  men. 
No  wonder  that  God  for  so  long  a  time  withdrew  the  light  of  his 
countenance  from  it.* 


*  Many  years  before  the  war  the  College  was  in  a  most  unhappy  condition.  The 
Visitors  and  the  Faculty  were  at  variance,  as  the  following  correspondence  will 
show : — 

Substance  of  a  letter  written  by  the  Visitors  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  dated 
July  15,  1767. 

They  informed  the  Bishop  that  Dr.  Halyburton,  whom  he  had  recommended  to 
the  Professorship  of  Moral  Philosophy  in  the  College,  had  arrived  a  few  weeks 
before,  when  they  had  reason  to  expect  him  more  than  ten  months  ago.  They  fear 
that  his  Lordship  had  been  imposed  upon  in  regard  to  the  qualifications  of  this 
person,  whom,  by  his  own  confessions,  they  find  was  totally  unqualified  to  dis- 
charge the  duties  of  the  Professorship.  They  say  that  Dr.  H.'s  letter  "breathes 
so  great  levity,  not  to  say  profaneness,  of  sentiment,"  that  they  would  think  them- 
selves unpardonable  should  they  admit  him  to  the  College.  They  complain,  also, 
that  those  have  been  frequently  sent  to  them  "who  were  extremely  unfit  for  the 
employments  assigned  them;"  and,  on  that  account,  the  education  of  the  youth 
has  been  very  defective;  "a  natural  consequence  of  which  have  been  riots,  con- 
tentions, -and  a  dissipation  of  manners  as  unbecoming  their  characters  as  vitally 
destructive  of  the  ends  of  their  appointment."  They  quote  the  following  from  the 
letter  of  the  Bishop,  dated  July  4,  1766: — "From  the  discouragements  which 
have  been  in  the  College,  and  the  power  which  the  Visitors  seem  desirous  of  exert- 
ing, in  displacing  at  their  pleasure  the  Professors  and  Masters,  it  was  no  easy  matter 
to  prevail  upon  any  person  to  enter  upon  so  precarious  a  situation."  In  reply  to 
this,  they  said  that  they  had  censured  some  former  Professors  for  immoralities 
and  remissness  in  their  duty ;  and,  a  few  years  since,  some  were  deprived  for  their 
contumacious  behaviour.  They  then  go  on  to  give  an  account  of  the  contests 
between  the  Visitors  and  the  Professors,  arising  out  of  the  conflicting  authority 
of  the  two  bodies  in  the  appointment  of  Ushers  for  the  Grammar-School ;  and 
also  on  account  of  a  statute  enacted  by  the  Visitors,  prohibiting  the  Masters  and 
Professors  from  engaging  in  any  employment  out  of  College  without  special 
permission.  In  justification  of  this  statute,  they  say  that  one  Professor  had 


176  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

Brief  must  be  our  remaining  notice  of  the  ministry,  the  Church, 
and  the  Presidents  of  the  College.  Dr.  Bracken  became  the  minis- 
ter in  the  year  1773,  and  continued  so  to  be,  in  connection  with 
the  Professorship  of  Humanity  in  the  College,  until  his  death  in 
1818.  Bishop  Madison  became  President  in  1777,  and  Continued 
such  until  his  death  in  1812.  After  a  temporary  Presidency  of 
one  year  by  Dr.  Bracken,  Dr.  Augustine  Smith,  a  Virginian,  and 
son  of  one  of  our  most  respectable  clergymen,  then  the  Professor 
in  a  Medical  College  in  New  York,  was  called  to  preside  over  the 
College.  On  entering  upon  its  duties,  he  was  conscious  that  the 
aid  of  heaven,  through  his  Church  and  ministry,  ought  to  be  had 
in  order  to  success,  and  therefore  petitioned  the  now  reviving  Epis- 
copal Church  of  Virginia  to  establish  a  Professorship  of  Divinity 
in  the  College.  The  result  was,  the  sending  the  Rev.  Dr.  Keith 
for  that  purpose,  who  succeeded  Dr.  Bracken  as  minister  of  the 
parish,  and  made  the  experiment.  After  the  trial  of  a  few  years, 
being  satisfied  that  success  could  not  attend  the  effort  at  that  time, 
he  resigned,  and  became  the  head  of  the  Seminary  at  Alexandria. 
Dr.  Smith  met  with  a  good  degree  of  success  in  increasing  the 
number  of  the  students,  but  not  enough  to  encourage  his  continu- 


engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine ;  that  others  had  held  parochial  cures  in 
the  vicinity  and  at  greater  distances,  causing  them  to  neglect  their  duties  in 
College,  and  more  particularly  on  Saturdays  and  Sundaj^s,  when  the  students, 
being  left  without  any  supervision,  engaged  in  riotous  conduct.  According  to  that 
account  of  the  matter,  there  had  been  a  contest  between  the  Visitors  and  Professors 
during  the  past  twelve  years,  to  the  great  detriment  of  the  interests  of  the  College. 
That  now  these  differences  are  happily  settled,  and  harmony  in  a  degree  restored ; 
and  they  ask  his  Lordship  to  recommend  to  them  suitable  persons  to  fill  the  Pro- 
fessorships of  Moral  Philosophy  and  Mathematics ;  the  salary  to  be  £100  per 
annum,  with  board  and  lodgings,  in  the  College  building. 

In  reply  to  this  letter,  the  Bishop  exhorts  them  to  bury  all  former  animosities,  and 
speaks  of  the  difficulty  of  finding  men  qualified  for  Professorships,  who  would  be 
willing  to  go  to  a  distant  and  unhealthy  country  for  an  advance  of  thirty  or  forty 
pounds  per  annum  beyond  what  they  might  receive  at  home. 

By  a  statute  of  the  Visitors,  passed  in  1770,  provision  is  made  for  the  salaries 
of  eight  undergraduates,  of  £30  per  annum  each;  to  be  chosen,  two  each  year, 
from  the  body  of  students,  for  their  proficiency  in  learning  and  their  exemplary 
conduct.  They  were  to  complete  a  full  course  of  studies,  probably  including  divi- 
nity, as  the  statute  closes  with  these  words : — "  Let  those  who  shall  have  completed 
this  course  of  education  and  propose  to  go  home  for  orders  be  entitled  to  a  bounty 
of  £50  sterling,  for  their  encouragement  and  to  defray  the  expenses  of  their 
voyage."  In  1775,  James  Madison  was  allowed  £50  by  the  Visitors,  to  defray  his 
expenses  in  going  to  England  for  holy  orders.  In  the  year  1775,  Messrs.  Gwatkin 
and  Henly  returned  to  England.  In  the  year  1777,  Messrs.  Camm,  Jones,  and 
Dixon  have  difficulties  with  the  Visitors.  The  two  latter  resign,  and  Mr.  Camm, 
denying  the  authority  of  the  board,  is  displaced.  Mr.  Madison  is  made  President. 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  177 

ance  beyond  the  year  1826.  At  Ms  resignation,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wil- 
liam H.  Wiliner,  of  Alexandria,  was  called  to  the  rectorship  of  the 
church  and  Presidency  of  the  College,  both  of  which  he  discharged 
with  zeal  and  ability,  and  with  considerable  success,  during  one 
year,  at  the  end  of  which  he  died  of  fever,  deeply  lamented  by  all 
the  friends  of  the  church  and  College.  The  means  of  awakening 
pious  fervour  in  the  friends  of  the  Church  and  of  converting  the 
irreligious  youth  had  never  been  so  earnestly  employed  before  his 
time.  Besides  the  regular  services  of  the  Sabbath  and  temple, 
lectures,  exhortations,  and  prayers  were  most  earnestly  used  in 
private  houses  twice  in  the  week,  and  well  attended.  It  was  hoped 
that  a  genuine  revival  of  true  religion  was  about  to  take  place  in 
the  College  and  town.  The  first-fruits  of  it  had  already  appeared. 
Nor  did  he  rely  on  moral  suasion  alone  to  govern  the  youth,  but, 
when  occasion  called,  resorted  to  proper  discipline.  One  instance 
is  worthy  of  being  recorded.  At  Williamsburg,  as  at  some  other 
places,  it  was  thought  to  be  an  exploit,  becoming  students,  to  annoy 
all  around  by  ringing  the  College  bell  or  some  other  to  which  access 
could  be  had.  The  large  bell  of  the  old  church,  in  the  midst  of 
the  town,  was  resorted  to  for  this  purpose  by  some  troublesome 
youths.  After  due  warning  and  admonition,  Dr.  Wilnier  deter- 
mined to  detect  and  punish  the  offenders.  On  the  sound  of  the 
bell  one  night,  he  promptly  reached  the  place,  taking  with  him  one 
of  the  chief  citizens  of  the  town,  rather  against  his  will.  While 
the  bell  was  still  ringing,  followed  by  his  companion,  he  ascended 
in  the  dark  the  steps  of  the  belfry  leading  up  to  the  bell,  not 
knowing  who  or  how  many  he  had  to  encounter,  and,  seizing  on 
one  of  them,  effectually 'secured  him.  Such  resolution  is  not  often 
to  be  found.  At  the  death  of  Dr.  Wilmer,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Empie 
was  chosen  his  successor  in  both  stations.  He  continued  in  them 
for  eight  or  nine  years,  when  he  accepted  a  call  to  St.  James 
Church,  Richmond.  As  pastor  and  preacher  he  was  admired,  es- 
teemed, and  beloved,  as  he  had  been  elsewhere  before,  and  was  in 
Richmond  afterward.  He  still  lives.  His  many  and  increasing 
infirmities  of  body  amply  justify  his  retirement  from  public  service, 
and  his  many  excellencies  secure  him  the  affection  and  esteem  of 
all  who  know  him.  His  place  in  the  College  was  supplied  by  Mr. 
Dew,  a  Virginia  gentleman,  a  graduate  of  the  College,  and  a 
scholar.  His  amiable  disposition,  fine  talents,  tact  at  management, 
great  zeal,  and  unwearied  assiduity,  were  the  means  of  raising  the 
College  to  as  great  prosperity  as  perhaps  had  ever  been  its  lot  at 
any  time  since  its  first  establishment,  notwithstanding  many  op- 

12 


^78  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

% 

posing  difficulties.  To  this  we  must  make  one  exception, — viz. :  as 
to  the  classical  and  mathematical  departments,  under  some  of  the 
old  and  ripe  scholars  from  England,  before  the  Revolution.  Mr. 
Dew  being  arrested  by  the  hand  of  death  in  a  foreign  land,  in  the 
year  1846,  the  College  was  left  in  the  temporary  charge  of  Pro- 
fessor Saunders  and  Mr.  Benjamin  Ewell  during  the  years  1847 
and  1848,  when,  by  an  arrangement  with  the  Episcopal  Church  of 
Virginia,  the  Visitors  secured  the  services  of  Bishop  Johns  for  a 
few  years.  During  the  five  years  of  his  continuance,  notwithstand- 
ing the  arduous  labours  of  his  Episcopal  office,  he  so  diligently 
and  wisely  conducted  the  management  of  the  College  as  to  produce 
a  regular  increase  of  the  number  of  students  until  they  had  nearly 
reached  the  maximum  of  former  times,  established  a  better  dis- 
cipline than  perhaps  ever  before  had  prevailed  in  the  institution, 
and  attracted  more  students  of  divinity  to  its  lectures  than  had 
ever  been  seen  there  in  the  memory  of  any  now  living.  At  his 
resignation  in  1854,  Mr.  Ewell  resumed  the  government,  and  is  now 
the  President. 

Renewing  and  concluding  the  list  of  the  ministers  of  Williams- 
burg, — the  Rev.  Mr.  Hodges  succeeded  Dr.  Empie,  and  continued 
for  many  years  to  fill  the  pulpit  and  perform  all  the  duties  of  the 
pastoral  office  most  acceptably  to  the  congregation.  He  was  a 
great  favourite  with  a  congregation  of  coloured  persons,  who, 
though  belonging  to  another  denomination,  preferred  him  as  their 
minister ;  and  to  the  uttermost  of  his  physical  abilities  he  did  for 
many  years  act  as  such.  At  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Hodges,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Denison  became  their  pastor,  and  continued  such  for  a 
number  of  years.  The  Rev.  George  Wilmer,  son  of  the  former 
rector  and  President,  is  their  present  pastor. 

List  of  vestrymen  in  the  church  at  Williamsburg  from  the  year 
1674  to  1769  :— 

Hon.  Daniel  Parke,  Colonel  John  Page,  James  Besouth,  Robert  Cobb, 
Mr.  Bray,  Captain  Chesley,  Mr.  Aylott,  Hon.  Thomas  Ludwell,  Hon. 
Thomas  Ballard,  James  Vaux,  William  Korker,  George  Poindexter, 
Thomas  Whaley,  Captain  Otho  Thorpe,  Captain  Thomas  Williams,  Mar- 
tin Gardiner,  Daniel  Wyld,  Thomas  Taylor,  Christopher  Pierson,  Gideon 
Macon,  Robert  Spring,  George  Martin,  Abraham  Vinckler,  Samuel  Tim- 
son,  John  Ownes,  Captain  Francis  Page,  Thomas  Pettus,  Colonel  Thomas 
Ballard,  Ralph  Graves,  Captain  James  Archer,  George  Norvell,  John 
Dormar,  Edward  Jones,  Thomas  Thorp,  Daniel  Parke,  Jr.,  Hon.  Edmund 
Jennings,  Hugh  Norvell,  William  Pinkethraan,  Henry  Tyler,  John  Ken- 
dall, Baldwin  Mathews,  Philip  Ludwell,  Jr.,  Robert  Crawley,  Timothy 
Pinkethman,  Joseph  White,  James  Whaley,  Hon.  John  Page,  Jr.,  Wil- 
liam Hansford,  William  Timson,  Frederick  Jones,  David  Bray,  James  Bray, 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  179 

Ambrose  Cobb,  James  Hubard,  Nathaniel  Crowley,  Matthew  Pierce,  John. 
Custis,  Henry  Carey,  John  Holloway,  Archibald  Blair,  Michael  Archer, 
Baldwin  Mathews,  John  Clayton,  Lewis  Burwell,  David  Bray,  Jr.,  Thomas 
Jones,  Samuel  Timson,  Sir  John  Randolph,  George  Nicholas,  William 
Robertson,  Hon.  John  Blair,  Sen.,  Thomas  Cobbs,  Ralph  Graves,  Edward 
Barradale,  James  Barber,  Daniel  Needier,  James  Bray,  Jr.,  Henry  Tyler, 
Jr.,  John  Harmer,  James  Wray,  Matthew  Pierce,  Edward  Barradale,  Jr., 
Benjamin  Waller,  William  Parks,  Peyton  Randolph,  William  Prentiss, 
William  Timson,  Jr.,  John  Holt,  William  Graves,  Armstead  Burwell, 
John  Palmer,  Pinkethman  Eaton,  Robert  Carter  Nicholas,  Thomas  Eve- 
rard,  Nathaniel  Shields,  Frederick  Bryan,  George  Wythe,  John  Prentiss, 
John  Power,  William  Eaton. 


180  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 


ARTICLE  XIV. 

Williamsburg,  Bruton  Parish. — No.  4. 

ACCORDING  to  promise,  I  proceed  to  some  notices  of  a  few  of 
the  vestrymen  of  Bruton  parish.  There  are  doubtless  others 
equally  worthy  of  praise,  but  I  have  no  information  from  which 
to  speak.  Mr.  Daniel  Parke,  whose  name  stands  first  on  the  list 
of  the  first  vestry  in  1676,  was  from  Surrey,  England,  and 
married  a  Miss  Evelyn.*  A  tablet  of  him  was  placed  in  the 
first  church  at  Williamsburg,  and  afterwards  was  transferred  to 
the  second.  He  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  worth  and  dis- 
tinction. Mr.  John  Custis,  of  Arlington,  Northampton  county, 
Eastern  Shore  of  Virginia,  married  his  daughter,  and  was  also  a 
vestryman.  George  Washington  Parke  Custis,  of  Arlington,  Fair- 
fax county,  grandson  of  Mrs.  General  Washington,  was  descended 
from  the  above-mentioned  Daniel  Parke  and  John  Custis.  It 
could  be  wished  that  the  record  of  Daniel  Parke  his  son,  whose 
name  is  also  on  the  vestry-book,  were  as  worthy  of  notice.  He 
was  indeed  more  notorious  than  his  father,  but  for  other  reasons. 
He  conceived  a  great  dislike  to  Mr.  Blair,  the  minister  of  James- 
town, the  President  of  the  College,  and  who  was  living  near 
Williamsburg.  Having  no  pew  in.  the  church  at  Williamsburg,  his 
wife  was  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Ludlow,  of  Green  Spring, 
whose  daughter  Mr.  Parke  married,  for  a  seat.  On  a  certain  Sun- 
day, Mr.  Parke,  determined  to  mortify  Mr.  Blair  by  insulting  his 
wife,  in  his  absence  (and  doubtless  in  the  absence  of  Mr.  Ludlow, 
who  afterward  complained  of  it)  came  into  the  church,  and,  rudely 
seizing  Mrs.  Blair  by  the  arm,  drew  her  out  of  the  pew,  saying 


*  If  this  Miss  Evelyn  whom  Mr.  Parke  married  was  daughter  or  relative  of  the 
Mr.  Evelyn  whose  name  appears  among  the  pious  benefactors  of  that  day  in  Eng- 
land, then  was  she  connected  with  one  of  the  truest  friends  of  the  Church  of 
America.  In  all  that  was  done  by  the  two  great  societies  for  the  promotion  of  Chris- 
tianity in  foreign  lands, — the  Propagation  and  Christian  Knowledge  Societies, — Mr. 
Evelyn  was  among  the  foremost.  Of  him,  at  his  death  in  1705,  it  is  said,  "Evelyn, 
full  of  years  and  honour,  and  breathing  to  the  last  the  spirit  of  prayer  and  thankful- 
ness, entered  into  his  rest." 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  181 

she  should  not  sit  there.  He  was  a  man  of  great  violence  of 
character,  as  otherwise  appears.  This  is  recorded  in  the  archives 
of  Lambeth,  and  speaks  ill  for  the  decorum  and  chivalry  of  the 
times.  *In  the  Rev.  Mr.  Anderson's  Colonial  History  of  this  period, 
we  have  the  following  account  of  a  Mr.  Daniel  Parke,  which 
answers  but  too  well  to  the  foregoing : — 

"The  offences  of  Parke's  early  life  had  compelled  him  to  flee  from  Vir- 
ginia, the  land  of  his  birth,  to  England,  where  he  purchased  an  estate  in 
Hampshire  and  obtained  a  seat  in  Parliament.  Not  long  afterward,  he 
was  expelled  the  House  for  bribery ;  and  the  provocation  of  fresh  crimes 
drove  him  again  a  fugitive  to  Holland,  where  he  entered  as  a  volunteer 
in  the  army  of  the  Duke  of  Marlborough,  and  was  made  his  aid-de-camp. 
He  carried  home,  in  a  brief  note  written  upon  the  field  by  Marlborough  to 
his  Duchess,  the  first  tidings  of  the  victory  of  Blenheim,  and,  through  the 
interest  which  then  prevailed  at  the  Court  of  Anne,  obtained  the  Govern- 
ment of  Antigua.  His  arbitary  and  oppressive  conduct  in  public  matters 
and  the  gross  licentiousness  of  his  private  life  soon  stirred  up  against  him 
the  hatred  of  all  classes  of  its  inhabitants.  The  home  Government  ordered 
his  recall;  but  he,  refusing  to  obey  it,  persisted  with  arrogant  insolence 
in  his  course  of  tyranny.  At  length  it  could  be  endured  no  longer,  and 
on  the  morning  of  the  7th  of  December,  1710,  a  body  of  five  hundred  men 
with  numbers  of  the  Assembly  at  their  head,  marched  to  the  Government- 
House,  determined  to  drive  him  from  it  by  force.  The  orders  of  Parke 
that  they  should  disperse,  and  the  attempts  of  his  enemies  to  negotiate, 
were  alike  fruitless.  The  attack  was  made,  and  resisted  with  equal  vio- 
lence by  the  soldiers  and  others  whom  Parke  had  summoned  to  his  aid ; 
but  the  assailants  in  a  few  hours  conquered,  and  Parke  fell  a  victim  to 
their  fury.  It  was  a  lawless  punishment  of  a  lawless  act,  and  excited  great 
indignation  in  England.  But  the  catalogue  of  Parke' s  offences  had  been 
so  enormous,  and  the  effusion  of  blood  would  have  been  so  great  had  the 
sentence  of  capital  punishment  gone  forth  against  all,  or  even  the  leaders 
of  those  who  had  been  concerned  in  his  violent  death,  that  it  was  judged 
expedient  to  issue  a  general  pardon." 

Of  old  Mr.  Page,  who  stands  next  to  Colonel  Daniel  Parke  the 
elder,  I  have  already  spoken.  Early  on  the  list  of  vestrymen  was 
Mr.  John  Randolph,  alias  Sir  John  Randolph,  who  was  the  father 
of  Mr.  John  Randolph  and  Mr.  Peyton  Randolph,  all  of  whom 
were  in  succession  Attorney-Generals  of  Virginia.  The  father  is 
spoken  of  as  a  most  eminent  man  in  his  profession,  and  of  high 
character.  His  son  Peyton  Randolph  was  also  a  vestryman  of 
the  church,  and  gave  early  signs  of  a  too  independent  spirit  to  be 
very  acceptable  to  the  English  Government.  Being  sent  over  to 
England  on  account  of  some  of  our  complaints,  and  speaking  his 
mind  too  freely  for  the  Court  and  Cabinet,  he  was  displaced  from 
his  office,  and  his  brother  John,  who  had  been  acting  in  his  absence, 
was  installed.  At  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  John  went  to  Eng- 


182  OLD    CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  AND 

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land  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Edmond.  The  former,  bitterly 
repenting  of  his  choice,  died  of  a  broken  heart,  and  directed  his 
remains  to  be  brought  back  to  Virginia.  They  are  interred  in  the 
College  Chapel.  Mr.  Peyton  Randolph  ever  showed  himself  the 
warm  and  steady  friend  of  the  Church  as  well  as  of  his  country. 
He  went  by  the  name  of  Speaker  Randolph,  being  for  a  long  time 
the  presiding  officer  in  the  House  of  Burgesses.  He  was  also 
chosen  Speaker  of  the  first,  second,  and  third  Congress,  but  sud- 
denly died  of  apoplexy,  during  the  last.  He  was  buried  for  a  time 
in  Philadelphia,  but  afterward  removed  to  Williamsburg.  In  con- 
nection with  the  foregoing  notice  of  Mr.  Peyton  Randolph,  I  add 
something  concerning  his  nephew  and  adopted  son,  Edmund  Ran- 
dolph, of  whose  religious  sentiments  I  have  spoken  in  a  former 
number. 

Extract  from  a  paper  written  by  Edmund  Randolph,  soon  after  the 
death  of  his  wife,  and  addressed  to  his  children. 

li  Up  to  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution,  the  Church  of  England 
was  the  established  religion,  in  which  your  mother  had  been  educated 
with  strictness,  if  not  with  bigotry.  From  the  strength  of  parental  ex- 
ample, her  attendance  on  public  worship  was  unremitted,  except  when 
insuperable  obstacles  occurred }  the  administration  of  the  sacrament  was 
never  without  a  cause  passed  by ;  in  her  closet,  prayer  was  uniformly  ad- 
dressed to  the  throne  of  mercy,  and  the  questioning  of  the  sacred  truths 
she  never  permitted  to  herself  or  heard  from  others  without  abhorrence. 
When  we  were  united,  I  was  a  deist,  made  so  by  my  confidence  in  some 
whom  I  revered,  and  by  the  labours  of  two  of  my  preceptors,  who,  though 
of  the  ministry,  poisoned  me  with  books  of  infidelity.  I  cannot  answer 
for  myself  that  I  should  ever  have  been  brought  to  examine  the  genuine- 
ness of  Holy  Writ,  if  I  had  not  observed  the  consoling  influence  which 
it  wrought  upon  the  life  of  my  dearest  Betsey.  I  recollect  well  that  it 
was  not  long  before  I  adopted  a  principle  which  I  have  never  relinquished  : 
— that  woman,  in  the  present  state  of  society,  is,  without  religion,  a 

monster.     While  my  opinions  were  unsettled,  Mr. and  Mr. came 

to  my  house  on  Sunday  evening  to  play  with  me  at  chess.  She  did 
not  appear  in  the  room ;  and  her  reproof,  which  from  its  mildness  was 
like  the  manna  of  heaven,  has  operated  perpetually  as  an  injunction  from 
above;  for  several  years  since  I  detected  the  vanity  of  sublunary  things, 
and  knew  that  the  good  of  man  consisted  in  Christianity  alone.  I  have 
often  hinted  a  wish  that  we  had  instituted  a  course  of  family  prayer  for 
the  benefit  of  our  children,  on  whose  minds,  when  most  pliant,  the  habit 
might  be  fixed.  But  I  know  not  how  the  plan  was  not  enforced,  until 
during  her  last  illness  she  and  I  frequently  joined  in  prayer.  She  always 
thanked  me  after  it  was  finished ;  and  it  grieves  me  to  think  that  she 
should  suppose  that  this  enlivening  inducement  was  necessary  in  order 
to  excite  me  to  this  duty." 

It  is  sad  to  think  that  ministers  of  the  Gospel  should  contribute 
to  infidelity  by  recommending  the  examination  of  infidel  works. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  183 

Who  they  were  I  am  unable  to  ascertain.  I  have  other  reasons 
for  knowing  that  infidelity,  under  the  specious  garb  of  Universal- 
ism,  was  then  finding  its  way  into  the  pulpit.  Governor  Page, 
Colonel  Nicholas,  and  Colonel  Bland  made  complaints  against 
some  one  preaching  in  or  near  Williamsburg  about  this  time,  for 
advocating  the  doctrine  with  its  usual  associates,  and  prevented 
his  preferment.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Yancey,  of  Louisa,  also  pub- 
lished a  sermon  on  universal  salvation,  which  has  been  recently 
republished  by  some  of  that  school.  A  Rev.  Mr.  Tally,  of  Glou- 
cester, taught  the  same,  and  afterward  gave  a  fit  comment  on  his 
doctrine  by  dying  the  death  of  the  drunkard,  as  one  informed 
me  who  closed  his  eyes.  At  such  a  time,  when  the  writings  of 
French  philosophers  —  falsely  so  called — were  corrupting  the 
minds  of  the  Virginia  youth,  the  testimony  of  such  men  as  Peyton 
Randolph,  Mr.  R.  C.  Nicholas,  Colonel  Bland,  President  Nelson, 
Governor  Page,  and  the  recovery  of  Edmund  Randolph  from  the 
snare,  has  peculiar  weight.  In  the  worst  of  times,  God  never 
leaves  himself  without  a  witness. 

There  appears  on  the  vestry-list  the  two  names  of  George 
Nicholas  and  his  son,  Robert  Carter  Nicholas.  The  former  came 
to  this  country  a  physician, — doubtless  duly  qualified.  He  married 
the  widow  of  Mr.  Burwell,  of  Gloucester,  a  descendant  of  the  Carters. 
His  son,  Robert  C.  Nicholas,  was  distinguished  at  the  bar  in  Wil- 
liamsburg, in  the  House  of  Burgesses,  in  the  Council,  as  Treasurer 
of  the  State,  and  as  a  patriot  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  But  he 
had  a  higher  praise  than  all  these  offices  could  give  him ;  for  he 
was  a  sincere  Christian,  and  a  zealous  defender  of  the  Church  of 
his  fathers  when  he  believed  her  rights  were  assailed.  Mr.  Hugh 
Blair  Grigsby,  in  his  eloquent  description  of  the  Burgesses  of 
1776,  thus  describes  him: — 

"  He  loved,  indeed,  a  particular  form  of  religion,  but  he  loved  more 
dearly  religion  itself.  In  peace  or  war,  at  the  fireside,  or  on  the  floor 
of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  a  strong  sense  of  moral  responsibility  was 
seen  through  all  his  actions.  If  a  resolution  appointing  a  day  of  fasting 
and  prayer  or  acknowledging  the  providence  of  God  in  crowning  our  arms 
with  victory,  though  drawn  by  worldly  men  with  worldly  views,  was  to 
be,  it  was  from  his  hands  it  was  to  be  presented  to  the  House,  and  from 
his  lips  came  the  persuasive  words  which  fell  not  in  vain  on  the  coldest 
ears.  Indeed,  such  was  the  impression  which  his  sincere  piety — embel- 
lishing as  it  did  the  sterling  virtues  of  his  character — made  upon  his 
own  generation,  that  its  influence  was  felt  upon  that  which  succeeded  it; 
and  when  his  youngest  son,  near  a  quarter  of  a  century  after  his  death, 
became  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  Attorney-General  of  the  Common- 
wealth, a  political  opponent,  who  knew  neither  father  nor  son,  gave  him 


184  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

his  support,  declaring  that  no  son  of  the  old  Treasurer  could  be  unfaith- 
ful to  his  country.  Nor  was  his  piety  less  conspicuous  in  a  private 
sphere.  Visiting,  on  one  occasion,  Lord  Botetourt,  with  whom  he  lived 
in  the  strictest  friendship,  he  observed  to  that  nobleman,  'My  lord,  I 
think  you  will  be  very  unwilling  to  die;'  and  when  asked  what  gave  rise 
to  that  remark,  '  Because/  said  he,  '  you  are  so  social  in  your  nature,  and 
so  much  beloved,  and  have  so  many  good  things  around  you,  that  you  must 
be  loath  to  leave  them."  His  lordship  made  no  reply;  but  a  short  time 
after,  being  on  his  death-bed,  he  sent  in  haste  for  Colonel  Nicholas,  who 
lived  near  the  palace,  and  who  instantly  repaired  thither  to  receive  the 
last  sighs  of  his  dying  friend.  On  entering  his  chamber,  he  asked  his 
commands.  '  Nothing/  replied  his  lordship,  '  but  to  let  you  see  that  I 
resign  those  good  things,  of  which  you  formerly  spoke,  with  as  much 
composure  as  I  enjoyed  them/  After  which  he  grasped  his  hand  with 
warmth,  and  instantly  expired."5* 

The  children  of  R.  C.  Nicholas  were  blessed  with  a  mother  who 
was  equally  worthy.  Let  the  following  letter  to  her  son,  Wilson 
Gary  Nicholas,  on  his  entering  public  life,  bear  witness : — 

"WlLLIAMSBURG,  1784. 

"  DEAR  WILSON  : — I  congratulate  you  on  the  honour  your  county  has 
done  you  in  choosing  you  their  representative  with  so  large  a  vote.  I 
hope  you  are  come  into  the  Assembly  without  those  trammels  which  some 
people  submit  to  wear  for  a  seat  in  the  House, — I  mean,  unbound  by 
promises  to  perform  this  or  that  job  which  the  many-headed  monster  may 
think  proper  to  chalk  out  for  you ;  especially  that  you  have  not  engaged 
to  lend  a  last  hand  to  pulling  down  the  church,  which,  by  some  imperti- 
nent questions  in  the  last  paper,  I  suspect  will  be  attempted.  Never,  my 
dear  Wilson,  let  me  hear  that  by  that  sacrilegious  act  you  have  furnished 
yourself  with  materials  to  erect  a  scaffold  by  which  you  may  climb  to  the 
summit  of  popularity;  rather  remain  in  the  lowest  obscurity:  though,  I 
think,  from  long  observation,  I  can  venture  to  assert  that  the  man  of 
integrity,  who  observes  one  equal  tenor  in  his  conduct, — who  deviates 
neither  to  the  one  side  or  the  other  from  the  proper  line, — has  more  of  the 
confidence  of  the  people  than  the  very  compliant  time-server,  who  calls 
himself  the  servant — and,  indeed,  is  the  slave — of  the  people.  I  natter 
myself,  too,  you  will  act  on  a  more  liberal  plan  than  some  members  have 
done  in  matters  in  which  the  honour  and  interest  of  this  State  are  con- 


*  Colonel  Nicholas  died  at  his  seat  in  Hanover,  leaving  five  sons, — -George,  who 
moved  to  Kentucky ;  Lewis,  who  lived  in  Albemarle ;  John,  who  moved  to  New 
York;  Wilson  Gary,  who  was  member  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives of  the  United  States  and  Governor  of  Virginia ;  Philip  Norborne,  called 
after  Norborne,  Lord  Botetourt,  his  father's  friend,  and  who,  besides  other  offices, 
held  that  of  Judge  of  the  General  Court.  One  of  the  daughters  of  Colonel  Nicho- 
las married  Mr.  Edmund  Randolph ;  another  Mr.  John  H.  Norton,  of  Winchester. 
She  was  the  mother  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Norton,  a  venerable  minister  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  of  New  York,  who  has  two  sons  in  our  ministry, — one  in  Virginia,  the  other 
in  Kentucky. 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  185 

cerned ;  that  you  will  not,  to  save  a  few  pence  to  your  constituents,  dis- 
courage the  progress  of  arts  and  sciences,  nor  pay  with  so  scanty  a  hand 
persons  who  are  eminent  in  either.  This  parsimonious  plan,  of  late 
adopted,  will  throw  us  behind  the  other  States  in  all  valuable  improve- 
ments, and  chill,  like  a  frost,  the  spring  of  learning  and  spirit  of  enter- 
prise. I  have  insensibly  extended  what  I  had  to  say  beyond  my  first 
design,  but  will  not  quit  the  subject  without  giving  you  a  hint,  from  a 
very  good  friend  of  yours,  that  your  weight  in  the  House  will  be  much 
greater  if  you  do  not  take  up  the  attention  of  the  Assembly  on  trifling 
matters  nor  too  often  demand  a  hearing.  To  this  I  must  add  a  hint  of 
my  own,  that  temper  and  decorum  is  of  infinite  advantage  to  a  public 
speaker,  and  a  modest  diffidence  to  a  young  man  just  entering  the  stage 
of  life :  the  neglect  of  the  former  throws  him  off  his  guard,  breaks  his 
chain  of  reasoning,  and  has  often  produced  in  England  duels  that  have 
terminated  fatally.  The  natural  effect  of  the  latter  will  ever  be  pro- 
curing a  favourable  and  patient  hearing,  and  all  those  advantages  that  a 
prepossession  in  favour  of  the  speaker  produces. 

"  You  see,  my  son,  that  I  take  the  privilege  of  a  mother  in  advising 
you,  and,  be  assured,  you  have  no  friend  so  solicitous  for  your  welfare, 
temporal  and  eternal,  as  your  ever-affectionate  mother, 

"ANNE  NICHOLAS." 


The  author  of  the  above  letter  was  the  daughter  of  Colonel 
Wilson  Gary,  of  Hampton,  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  first 
families  who  settled  in  the  lower  part  of  Virginia.  Tradition  says 
that  Mrs.  Nicholas,  after  the  death  of  her  husband,  R.  C.  Nicho- 
las, at  his  seat  in  Hanover,  was  visited  by  some  British  officers, 
and  received  them  with  great  dignity.  Her  daughter-in-law,  wife 
of  her  son  George,  and  sister  of  Governor  Samuel  Smith,  of  Balti- 
more, being  recognised  by  one  of  the  officers  as  an  old  acquaint- 
ance in  Carlisle,  Pennsylvania,  secured  polite  treatment  for  the 
family ;  but  the  officers,  on  discovering  that  there  were  some  jewels 
and  other  valuables  in  the  house,  seized  upon  them  and  carried 
them  off. 

Although  I  have  not  continued  the  list  of  vestrymen  beyond 
the  period  of  the  Revolution,  there  are  two  who  must  have  been 
added  to  it  soon  after  that  event,  of  whom  I  wish  to  take  a  pass- 
ing notice.  The  first  of  these  is  Mr.  Burwell  Bassett.  His  name 
may  be  seen  on  one  or  more  of  the  earlier  journals  of  the  Church 
of  Virginia,  when  it  was  first  organized  on  the  American  platform. 
He  is  also  to  be  seen,  for  a  long  time,  as  the  representative  of  the 
Williamsburg  district  in  the  American  Congress,  and  very  often  as 
filling  the  Speaker's  chair  in  the  absence  of  that  officer.  I  knew 
him  from  my  very  boyhood  as  my  father's  friend  and  visitor.  The 
name  of  Bassett  is  an  ancient  and  honourable  one  on  the  page 
of  Virginia  history,  and  Mr.  Burwell  Bassett  did  not  dishonour  it. 


186  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

He  was  loved  and  esteemed  for  his  integrity  and  friendly  qualities. 
An  anecdote  was  related  to  me,  more  than  forty  years  ago,  by 
that  worthy  man,  Mr.  Stanford,  member  of  Congress  from  North 
Carolina,  which  showed  his  generosity  of  character.  On  a  certain 
occasion,  a  poor  old  soldier  of  the  Rev6lution  presented  himself  in 
Washington  and  asked  an  alms  of  the  members  of  Congress. 
Mr.  Stanford,  seeing  something  really  touching  and  worthy  in  the 
case,  undertook  a  collection  for  him  in  the  hall  of  Congress.  He 
was  mortified  at  the  refusal  of  some,  and  at  the  small  and  re- 
luctant contribution  of  others,  but  when  he  came  to  Mr.  Bassett 
the  scene  was  changed.  He  was  just  receiving  of  some  one  a 
number  of  bank-notes,  and,  on  the  mention  of  the  subject,  imme- 
diately opened  both  his  hands,  in  which  he  held  the  bank-notes, 
and  said,  "  Certainly,"  bidding  him  take  whatever  he  wanted.  His 
hospitality  was  proverbial.  You  could  do  him  no  greater  favour 
than  to  go  to  his  house  and  take  as  many  others  with  you  as  you 
pleased.  He  was,  however,  though  a  very  ultra  republican  in 
theory,  pertinacious  in  having  his  own  way  in  some  things.  An 
instance  of  this  was  once  displayed  in  the  Board  of  Visitors  of 
William  and  Mary  College,  with  which  he  had  been  connected  for 
a  long  time,  and  where  his  will  had  generally  governed.  On  a  cer- 
tain occasion,  when,  after  much  debate,  he  failed  to  carry  his  point 
against  the  younger  members,  he  left  the  room,  shaking  his  coat- 
tail,  instead  of  the  dust  of  his  feet,  against  them.  The  Board 
could  not  think  of  thus  parting  with  their  old  friend,  and,  at  the 
suggestion  of  one  of  their  number,  contrived  that  evening  to  let 
him  know  that  they  wished  to  dine  with  him  next  day.  This  was 
enough.  A  hospitable  feast  was  given,  and  nothing  more  heard 
of  the  difference.  The  democratic  principle  of  Mr.  Bassett, 
united  with  this  pertinacity  of  character,  was  also  evident  in  his 
opposition  to  the  canon  of  the  Virginia  Convention  excluding  from 
that  body  all  non-communicants.  He  held  that  the  vestries  had  a 
right  to  send  whom  they  pleased,  and  that  it  was  interfering  with 
their  rights  to  impose  any  conditions.  He  came  to  the  Conven- 
tion in  Fredericksburg,  at  which  the  question  was  finally  settled, 
and  spoke  nearly  one  whole  day  against  it.  Being  old  and 
infirm,  when  he  was  tired  of  standing  he  asked  leave  to  sit,  which 
was  freely  granted.  From  a  seat  in  the  middle  aisle,  near  the 
chancel  where  the  bishops  sat,  he  still  talked  until  toward  the 
close  of  the  day.  As  I  had  read  a  written  (and  afterward  pub- 
lished) argument  in  its  favour  in  the  morning,  his  address  was 
chiefly  to  myself,  and  in  a  very  plain  style ;  but  we  allowed  him 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  187 

all  liberties,  and,  at  the  close,  passed  the  canon  by  a  majority  of 
two-thirds  or  more.  His  vestry,  sympathizing  with  him  or  unwill- 
ing to  differ,  resolved  to  send  no  more  delegates  or  contributions 
while  this  canon  continued,  and  were  encouraged  in  their  course 
by  the  strictures  upon  our  canon  in  two  of  our  Northern  Epis- 
copal papers.  Bishop  Moore  and  myself  did  not  change  our  re- 
lation to  the  parish,  but  continued  to  visit  the  congregation  as 
usual,  and  said  not  a  word  to  persuade  the  vestry  to  change  their 
course.  At  the  death  of  Mr.  Bassett,  not  many  years  after,  of  its 
own  accord  a  delegate  was  sent  to  the  Convention,  and  all  the  back 
dues  honourably  sent  with  him.  The  kindness  of  Mr.  Bassett  to 
myself  was  increased  during  this  period.  He  not  only  was  most 
attentive  to  me  when  in  Williamsburg,  but,  as  I  always  came  to  it 
through  New  Kent,  he  would  meet  me  in  his  carriage,  more  than 
twenty  miles  off,  at  old  Colonel  Macon's,  and  carry  me  thence  to 
his  hospitable  home  in  Williamsburg,  and,  when  my  services 
there  were  ended,  insist  on  sending  me  to  the  next  point.  Erom 
him  I  learned  much  of  the  character  of  the  old  church  and  its 
ministers. 

MB.  ROBERT  SAUNDERS. 

The  other  person  to  whom  I  alluded  was  the  elder  Mr.  Robert 
Saunders,  and  father  to  the  one  of  the  same  name  now  living  in 
Williamsburg.  Whether  he  was  descended  from  either  of  the  two 
ministers  of  that  name  on  the  list  of  the  Virginia  clergy,  (one  of 
early  date,)  or  related  to  them,  I  know  not.  Mr.  Saunders  was  a 
lawyer  of  distinction  in  Williamsburg,  and  highly  esteemed  by  Dr. 
Wilmer  and  Dr.  Empie  for  his  religious  character.  He  furnished 
Dr.  Hawks  a  lengthy  statement  about  the  Church  in  Virginia,  and 
especially  about  the  parish  of  Bruton.  The  following  is  his  opinion 
of  the  conduct  of  the  Virginia  Legislature  in  relation  to  the  sale 
of  the  glebes  : — 

"  It  was  not,  I  am  persuaded,  the  result  either  of  covetousness,  infi- 
delity, or  sectarianism,  but  proceeded  from  the  same  spirit  which  gave 
rise  to  the  bill  of  rights  and  the  Constitution  bottomed  upon  them.  I 
remark,  further,  that  it  is  manifest,  from  the  history  of  the  day  and  the 
journal  of  the  Legislative  proceedings,  that  a  great  majority  of  both 
Houses  were,  at  the  time  of  passing  these  statutes,  Episcopalians,  and 
they  clung  to  the  Episcopal  clergy  as  long  as  they  could  properly  do  so 
under  the  pressure  of  public  opinion.  As  an  individual  I  was  opposed 
to  the  sale  of  the  glebes,  because  I  wished  the  Episcopal  Church  to  be 
predominant;  and,  as  no  direct  injury  was  done  to  the  Dissenters  by  keep- 


J 

188  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

ing  the  glebes  as  appendages  to  the  Church,  I  thought  it  was  prudent  to 
preserve  this  property  in  the  channel  in  which  it  had  passed  for  so  many 
years,  as  an  encouragement  to  the  clergy  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  to 
whom  the  people  had  been  mainly  attached  by  habit  and  education.  But 
I  cannot  admit  that  the  Legislature  illegally  seized  and  violated  the 
rights  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  The  property  belonged  to  the  parish, 
and  not  to  the  clergy;  and  it  is  certainly  now  known  that  in  very  many, 
if  not  the  larger  number,  of  parishes  in  Virginia,  the  Episcopalians  were 
not  the  majority,  but  a  small  minority  at  the  time  when  this  law  was 
enacted." — Letter  to  Dr.  Hawks. 


I  entirely  concur  with  Mr.  Saunders,  that  covetousness  did  not 
promote  this  law ;  for,  as  I  shall  show  hereafter,  the  glebes  were 
not  worth  contending  for.  Infidelity  and  sectarianism,  I  think, 
must  have  had  their  share  in  the  work.  I  shall  have  occasion  to 
consider  this  question  at  a  future  time. 


CONCLUSION. 

Some  thoughts  on  the  formation  of  the  Virginia  character,  as 
displayed  in  the  American  Revolution  and  previously,  may  with 
propriety  follow  after  the  history  of  the  Church  and  College  at 
Williamsburg,  and  the  foregoing  list  of  vestrymen.  As  London 
and  the  Universities  were  in  one  sense  England,  Paris  and  its  Uni- 
versity France,  so  Williamsburg,  while  it  was  the  seat  of  Govern- 
ment, and  the  College  of  William  and  Mary,  were,  to  a  great  extent, 
Virginia.  Here  her  Governor  and  chief  officers  resided ;  here  her 
Council  often  repaired  and  her  Burgesses  annually  met.  What 
was  their  character  ?  Whence  did  their  ancestors  come,  and  who 
were  they  ?  Happily  for  the  Colony,  they  were  not  Lords,  or  their 
eldest  sons,  and  therefore  heirs  of  lordship.  With  one  or  two  ex- 
ceptions, none  such  ever  settled  in  Virginia.  Neither  were  they  in 
any  great  numbers  the  ultra  devotees  of  kings, — the  rich,  gay,  mili- 
tary, Cavalier  adherents  of  Charles  L, — or  the  non-juring  believers  in 
the  divine  right  of  kings,  in  the  days  of  Charles  II.  and  of  James  II. 
Some  of  all  these  there  were  in  the  Colony,  doubtless.  Some  dainty 
idlers,  with  a  little  high  blood,  came  over  with  Captain  Smith  at 
first,  and  more  of  the  rich  and  high-minded  Cavaliers  after  the 
execution  of  Charles  I. ;  but  Virginia  did  not  suit  them  well 
enough  to  attract  and  retain  great  numbers.  There  was  too  much 
hard  work  to  be  done,  and  too  much  independence,  even  from  the 
first,  for  those  who  held  the  doctrine  of  non-resistance  and  passive 
obedience  to  kings  and  others  in  authority,  to  make  Virginia  a 


FAMILIES  OP  VIRGINIA.  189 

comfortable  place  for  them  and  their  posterity.*  And  yet  we  must 
not  suppose  that  the  opposite  class — the  paupers,  the  ignorant,  the 
servile — formed  the  basis  of  the  larger  and  better  class  of  the  Vir- 
ginia population,  when  it  began  to  develop  its  character  at  the  Re- 
volution, and,  indeed,  long  before.  These  did  not  spring  up  into 
great  men  in  a  day  or  a  night,  on  touching  the  Virginia  soil.  Some 
of  the  best  families  of  England,  Ireland,  Scotland,  and  France, 
formed  at  an  early  period  a  large  part  of  that  basis.  Noblemen 
and  their  elder  sons  did  not  come  over;  but  we  must  remember 
how  many  of  the  younger  sons  of  noblemen  were  educated  for  the 
bar,  for  the  medical  profession,  and  the  pulpit,  and  turned  adrift 
on  the  world  to  seek  their  own  living,  without  any  patrimony. 
Some  of  those,  and  many  more  of  their  enterprising  descendants, 
came  to  the  New  World,  especially  to  Virginia,  in  search  of  fortune 
and  honour,  and  found  them  here.  Numbers  of  Virginia  families, 
who  are  almost  ashamed  or  afraid  in  this  republican  age  to  own  it, 
have  their  genealogical  trees,  or  traditionary  records,  by  which 
they  can  trace  their  line  to  some  of  the  most  ancient  families  in 
England,  Scotland,  Ireland,  and  to  the  Huguenots  of  France. 
Where  this  is  not  the  case,  still  they  can  derive  their  origin  from 

*  It  may  very  properly  be  called  a  mixed  basis  of  Cavaliers,  of  the  followers  of 
Cromwell  and  of  the  Pretender,  and  of  the  Huguenots,  when  persecuted  and  forced 
to  fly  for  refuge  to  other  lands ;  and  also  of  many  respectable  persons  at  other 
times.  The  Test- Act,  or  subscriptions  required  of  the  vestrymen  and  other  officers, 
shows  that  no  encouragement  was  held  out,  either  to  the  followers  of  Cromwell  or 
of  the  Pretender,  to  expect  honours  and  offices  in  Virginia.  They  always  required 
allegiance  to  the  established  Government,  except  during  the  temporary  usurpation 
of  Cromwell.  After  the  establishment  of  the  House  of  Hanover,  the  Stuart  Pre- 
tenders and  their  followers  were  denounced  in  these  test-oaths.  Some  specimens 
of  these  subscriptions,  or  oaths,  are  presented  in  our  sketches.  So  that,  probably, 
not  many  of  either  extreme  came  to  Virginia,  where  they  were  thus  stigmatized  and 
excluded  from  office  unless  on  condition  of  abjuring  their  principles.  Dr.  Hawks, 
in  his  History  of  the  Church  in  Virginia,  says  that  its  population  before  the  pro- 
tectorate of  Cromwell  was  twenty  thousand ;  after  the  restoration  of  monarchy, 
thirty  thousand.  There  were  only  ten  thousand  added  in  ten  or  twelve  years.  If 
we  consider  how  many  of  this  number  were  from  natural  increase  in  a  new  country, 
how  many  not  of  the  Cavalier  class  had  come  over,  and  how  many  of  that  class 
returned  on  the  accession  of  Charles  II.,  it  will  not  leave  a  large  number  to  make 
an  impression  on  the  Virginia  character.  Most  of  those  Cavaliers  who,  by  their  birth 
and  talents,  were  most  likely  to  make  that  impression,  had  gone  to  Surinam, 
Barbadoes,  Antigua,  and  the  Leeward  Islands.  These  "were  to  be  men  of  the  first 
rate,  who  wanted  not  money  or  credit."  (See  Dr.  Hawks's  History,  page  284.) 
After  the  restoration  of  monarchy,  some  of  the  followers  of  Cromwell  came  over  to 
Virginia,  but  most  probably  in  much  smaller  numbers  than  the  Cavaliers  had  done, 
as  they  would  not  find  so  welcome  a  home,  for  the  loyalty  of  Virginia  at  that  time 
cannot  be  questioned. 


190 

men  of  education,  either  In  law,  physic,  or  divinity,  which  things 
were  too  costly  in  the  old  countries  to  be  gotten  by  the  poorer 
classes,  except  in  some  few  instances  where  charity  was  afforded. 
Ministers  could  not  generally  be  ordained  without  degrees  from 
Cambridge,  Oxford,  Dublin,  or  Edinburgh.  Lawyers  studied  at 
the  Temple  Bar  in  London ;  physicians  at  Edinburgh.  For  a  long 
time  Virginia  was  dependent  for  all  these  professional  characters 
on  English  education.  Those  who  came  over  to  this  country  poor, 
and  ignorant,  and  dependent,  had  few  opportunities  of  elevating 
themselves;  as  has  been  happily  the  case  since  our  independence, 
by  reason  of  the  multiplication  of  schools  and  colleges,  and  of  all 
the  means  of  wealth  which  are  now  open  to  us.  Sir  William 
Berkeley  in  his  day  rejoiced  that  there  was  not  a  free  school  or 
printing-press  in  Virginia,  and  hoped  it  might  be  so  for  a  hundred 
years  to  come;  and  perhaps  it  was  not  much  otherwise  as  to 
schools.  In  the  year  1723,  the  Bishop  of  London  addressed  a 
circular  to  the  clergy  of  Virginia,  then  somewhat  over  forty  in 
number,  making  various  inquiries  as  to  the  condition  of  things  in 
the  parishes.  One  of  the  questions  was,  "Are  there  any  schools 
in  your  parish?"  The  answer,  with  two  or  three  exceptions,  (and 
those  in  favour  of  charity-schools,)  was,  none.  Private  schools  at 
rich  gentlemen's  houses,  kept  perhaps  by  an  unmarried  clergyman 
or  candidate  for  Orders,  were  all  the  means  of  education  in  the 
Colony,  and  to  such  the  poor  had  no  access.  Another  question 
was,  "Is  there  any  parish  library?"  The  answer  invariably  was, 
none;  except  in  one  case,  where  the  minister  replied,  "We  have 
the  Book  of  Homilies,  the  Whole  Duty  of  Man,  and  the  Singing 
Psalms."  Such  were  the  answers  from  thirty  clergymen,  whose 
responses  I  have  before  me.*  If  "knowledge  be  power,"  Virginia 
was,  up  to  that  time,  so  far  as  the  poor  were  concerned,  but  a  bar- 
ren nursery  of  mighty  men.  Would  that  it  had  been  otherwise, 
both  for  Church  and  State !  Education  was  confined  to  the  sons 
of  those  who,  being  educated  themselves,  and  appreciating  the 
value  of  it,  and  having  the  means,  employed  private  teachers  in 
their  families,  or  sent  their  sons  to  the  schools  in  England  and  paid 


*  Even  the  little  establishment  of  Huguenots  at  Manakintown,  whose  compact 
settlement  so  favoured  education,  and  whose  parentage  made  its  members  to  desire 
it,  was  so  destitute,  that  about  this  time  one  of  their  leading  men,  a  Mr.  Sallie,  on 
hearing  that  the  King  was  about  to  establish  a  colony  in  Ireland  for  the  Huguenots, 
addressed  him  a  letter  begging  permission  to  be  united  to  it,  saying  that  there  was 
no  school  among  them  where  their  children  could  be  educated. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  191 

for  them  with  their  tobacco.  Even  up  to  the  time  of  the  Revolu- 
tion was  this  the  case  with  some.  General  Nelson,  several  of  the 
Lees  and  Randolphs,  George  Gilmer,  my  own  father  and  two  of 
his  brothers,  and  many  besides  who  might  be  mentioned,  just  got 
back  in  time  to  prepare  for  the  Revolutionary  struggle.  The  Col- 
lege of  William  and  Mary,  from  the  year  1700  and  onward,  did 
something  toward  educating  a  small  portion  of  the  youth  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  that  was  all  until  Hampden  Sydney,  at  a  much  later 
period,  was  established.  But  let  any  one  look  at  the  published 
catalogue  of  William  and  Mary,  and  see  how  few  were  educated 
there  from  1720  to  the  Revolution,  and  let  him  notice  who  they 
were.  Let  him  also  examine  whatever  lists  of  Burgesses,  Hen- 
ning's  volumes  and  the  old  Virginia  almanacs  furnish,  and  he  will 
see  who  they  were  that  may  be  considered  the  chief  men  of  Vir- 
ginia. I  have  been  recently  examining  another  set  of  records 
which  show  who  were  considered  her  first  men.  I  allude  to  the 
vestry  elections ;  and  nine  times  in  ten  we  are  confident  one  of 
their  body  was  the  delegate.  They  were  the  ruling  men  of  the 
parishes, — the  men  of  property  and  education.  As  we  have  said 
before,  from  an  early  period  they  were  in  training  for  the  Revolu- 
tion, by  the  steady  and  ever-successful  struggle  with  Commissaries, 
Governors,  Bishops  of  London,  and  the  Crown,  on  the  subject  of 
the  calling  and  induction  of  ministers.  They  also  spoke  through 
the  House  of  Burgesses,  which  was  made  up  of  themselves.  We 
will  venture  to  affirm  that  very  few  of  the  statesmen  of  the  Revo- 
lution went  into  it  without  this  training.  Even  Mr.  Jefferson,  and 
Wythe,  who  did  not  conceal  their  disbelief  of  Christianity,  took  their 
parts  in  the  duties  of  vestrymen,  the  one  in  Williamsburg,  the  other 
in  Albemarle ;  for  they  wished  to  be  men  of  influence.  In  some 
of  the  communications  to  England,  the  vestries  are  complained  of 
by  the  clergy  as  the  aristocratic  bodies, — the  twelve  lords  or  mas- 
ters of  the  parishes;  and  they  did  sometimes,  I  doubt  not,  rule 
the  poor  clergy  with  a  rod  of  iron ;  but  they  were  not  the  men  to 
truckle  to  George  III.,  Lord  North,  or  the  Parliament.  Well  did 
Mr.  Burke,  in  his  celebrated  speech  on  American  affairs,  reply  to 
some  who  said  that  the  rich  slaveholders  of  the  South  would  not 
stand  a  war,  "that  they  were  entirely  mistaken;  for  that  those 
who  had  been  long  accustomed  to  command  were  the  last  who 
would  consent  to  obey."*  In  proof  of  my  position  that  men  of 

*  In  all  that  we  say  on  this  subject,  concerning  the  patriots  of  the  Revolution 
and  their  connection  with  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  especially  the  vestries,  it  must 


192  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

education,  and  that  gotten" chiefly  in  Europe,  were  the  ancestors  of 
large  numbers  of  those  who  formed  at  a  later  period  the  most 
influential  class,  I  would  here  insert  a  list  of  the  earlier  clergy  of 
Virginia  which  I  got  from  some  ancient  documents,  (most  of  them 
unpublished,)  and  this  is  but  a  small  part  of  those  whose  names 
are  lost  to  us  forever.  Let  the  reader  compare  these  with  names 
on  the  civil  and  military  list  of  Virginia's  history,  and  he  must 
acknowledge  the  probability  at  least  of  consanguinity  between 
many  of  them.  I  begin  with  the  names  of  Bucke,  Whittaker,  the 
two  Williamses,  (names  still  common  in  Virginia,)  Young,  Key, 
Berkeley,  Hampton,  Richardson,  Teackle,  Cotton,  Palmer,  Gor- 
don, the  Smiths,  Ware,  Doyley,  the  Bowkers,  Saunders,  Holt, 
Collier,  Wallace,  Walker,  the  Monroes,  Slaughter,  Blair,  Ander- 
son, Ball,  the  Yateses,  Hall,  Latane,  the  Roses,  the  Joneses,  Sharp, 
Waggener,  the  Taylors,  Stith,  Cox,  the  Brookes,  the  Robertsons, 
the  Robinsons,  Collings,  Baylie,  Bell,  Warden,  Debutts,  Forbes, 
Marshall,  Preston,  Goodwin,  Cargill,  Hughes,  the  Scotts,  the 
Fontains  and  Maurys,  the  Dawsons,  Reid,  White,  Campbell,  Gra- 
ham, the  Thompsons,  Fraser,  Thackcr,  Wilkinson,  the  Navisons, 
the  Stewarts,  the  Dixons,  Webb,  Innis,  Warrington,  Cole,  Purdie, 
Marye,  Mackay,  Jackson,  Green,  McDonald,  Moncure,  Keith,  Le- 
land,  Craig,  Grayson,  Bland,  Manning,  Hamilton,  Dick,  Clay, 
Lyons.  Many  of  the  foregoing  belong  to  the  first  century  of  our 
existence  and  to  the  early  part  of  the  second.  Many  of  the  fami- 
lies' of  Virginia  may  have  descended  from  some  of  the  foregoing 
without  knowing  it.  I  leave  it  to  others  to  search  out  the  civil 
list  of  Virginia  names,  in  order  to  ascertain  as  far  as  practicable 
how  many  of  their  ancestors  may  have  been  well-educated  doctors 
and  lawyers,  or  respectable  merchants  and  farmers,  when  first 
coming  to  this  country.  I  hope  I  shall  not  be  misunderstood.  It 
is  no  dishonour  to  be  born  of  the  poorest  parents  in  the  land.  It 
is  a  much  greater  honour  to  be  descended  from  a  poor  and  ignorant 


not  be  understood  as  excluding  from  their  fair  share  in  the  assertion  of  the  liberties 
of  the  country  those  of  other  denominations.  The  Baptists  as  a  body  soon  ten- 
dered their  services,  and  were  accepted.  They,  however,  were  mostly  descended 
from  Episcopalians,  having  for  conscience'  sake  separated  themselves  from  the 
Established  Church  not  long  before  the  war.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  Pres- 
byterians in  Eastern  Virginia ;  they  were  not  numerous,  being  chiefly  in  Hanover, 
Charlotte,  and  Prince  Edward,  but  still  they  furnished  most  valuable  men  to  the 
cause.  Those  of  Western  Virginia,  as  well  as  the  Germans,  were  descended  from 
European  ancestors  who  were  not  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  They  also  were  for- 
ward and  most  effective  in  the  Revolution. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  193 

good  man,  than  from  a  rich  or  learned  bad  man.  I  am  only 
speaking  of  a  historical  fact.  It  was  the  shame  of  our  forefathers, 
both  here  and  in  England,  that  they  did  not,  by  promoting  educa- 
tion, furnish  more  opportunities  to  the  poor  to  become  in  a  greater 
degree  the  very  bone  and  sinew  of  the  State.  It  is  our  sin  now 
that  more  and  better  attention  is  not  paid  to  the  common  schools 
of  Virginia,  in  order  to  make  them  nurseries  of  good  and  great 
men. 


194  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  AND 


ARTICLE  XV. 

Williamsburg,  Bruton  Parish. — No.  5. 

SINCE  the  preceding  articles  on  this  parish  were  written,  and 
published  in  another  form,  we  have  obtained  some  further  informa- 
tion which  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  our  readers.  We  have 
searched  among  the  old  tombstones  in  the  graveyard  surrounding 
the  church,  and  deciphered  some  of  the  scarce-legible  inscriptions 
on  the  time-worn  or  broken  slabs,  which  are  either  still  resting  on 
their  original  foundations,  or  else  prostrated  upon  the  earth  or 
leaning  against  the  church-wall  or  on  other  tombs.  Some,  no 
doubt,  were  deposited  beneath  the  church  itself,  as  was  the  custom 
more  in  ancient  than  in  present  times.  Some  of  our  great  men,  as 
the  Randolphs,  Bishop  Madison,  and  others,  are  in  a  vault  beneath 
the  College  chapel,  while  others  are  in  adjoining  farms,  where  once 
stately  mansions  stood,  and  of  which  the  tombstones  are  now  the 
only  witnesses  that  they  once  existed.  Williamsburg  was  once  the 
miniature  copy  of  the  Court  of  St.  James,  somewhat  aping  the 
manners  of  that  royal  place,  while  the  old  church  and  its  grave- 
yard and  the  College  chapel  were — si  licet  cum  magnis  componere 
parva — the  Westminster  Abbey  and  St.  Paul's  of  London,  where 
the  great  ones  were  interred. 

We  begin  our  transcript  of  inscriptions  with  that  of  the  first 
minister  of  the  parish, — the  Rev.  Roland  Jones,  son  of  a  minister 
of  the  same  name, — probably  in  England, — and  of  which  name, 
and  doubtless  family,  several  others  ministered  in  Virginia : — 

"  Hie  jacet  Rolandus  Jones,  Clericus,  films  Rolandi  Jones,  Clerici. 
Natus  Swirnbrook,  juxta  Burford  in  comitatu  Oxon.  Collegii  Merton, 
Universitate  Oxon.,  Alumnus.  Parochise  Bruton,  Virginia,  Pastor  Pri- 
mus Delectissimus.  Functione  pastorali  annis  14  Fideliter  defunctus  Pa- 

rochiae  quam  maximo  de obiit  April   23.  die   setatis  suae.  45 

An.  ...  D.  1688." 

The  blanks  in  the  foregoing  and  others  cannot  be  supplied,  being 
illegible. 

Our  next  describes  one  of  the  best  of  our  early  Governors : — 

"  Under  this  marble  rest  ye  ashes  of  his  excellency  Edward  Nott,  late 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  195 

Governor  of  this  Colony,  who,  in  his  private  character,  was  a  good  Chris- 
tian, and  in  his  public,  a  good  Governor.  He  was  a  lover  of  mankind, 
and  bountiful  to  his  friends.  By  the  prudence  and  justice  of  his  admi- 
nistration, he  was  deservedly  esteemed  a  public  blessing  while  he  lived ; 
and  when  he  died,  it  was  a  public  calamity.  He  departed  this  life  the 
23d  day  of  August,  1706,  aged  49  years.  In  grateful  remembrance  of 
whose  many  virtues,  the  General  Assembly  of  this  Colony  have  erected 
this  monument." 

The  next  is  taken  from  a  slab  lying  in  the  graveyard  against  the 
wall  of  the  church,  in  order  to  preserve  it.  Philip  Ludwell  lived 
within  a  mile  or  two  of  Williamsburg,  and  his  uncle  Thomas  may 
have  been  buried  there  and  removed  by  the  nephew.  Commissary 
Blair  married  the  daughter  of  Philip  Ludwell  and  lived  on  a  farm 
adjoining,  which  was  given  to  him  by  his  father-in-law. 

"Under  this  marble  lyeth  the  body  of  Thomas  Ludwell,  Esquire, 
Secretary  of  Va.,  who  was  born  at  Bruton,  in  the  county  of  Somerset, 
in  the  kingdom  of  England,  and  departed  this  life  in  the  year  1678.  And 
near  this  lye  the  bodies  of  Richard  Kemp,  Esquire,  his  predecessor  in  the 
Secretary's  office,  and  Sir  Thomas  Lunsford,  Knight.  In  memory  of 
whom  this  marble  is  placed,  by  order  of  Philip  Ludwell,  Esq.,  nephew  of 
said  Thomas  Ludwell,  in  the  year  1727." 

There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  the  name  Bruton  was  given  to 
the  parish  in  honour  of  Thomas  Ludwell,  who  came  from  a  place 
of  that  name  in  England.  Originally  the  parish  was  called  Mid- 
dletowne,  when,  in  1658,  the  inhabitants  of  Middle  Plantation 
(Williamsburg)  and  of  Harop  parish  (between  it  and  Warwick) 
were  united  into  one. 

From  the  fragments  of  a  large  slab  which,  for  some  time,  has 
been  lying  at  one  of  the  gates  of  the  churchyard,  we  take  the  fol- 
lowing imperfect  inscription  relating  to  the  father  of  the  Pages  of 
Virginia : — 

"Here  lyeth,  in  hope  of  a  joyful  resurrexion,  the  body  of  Col.  John 
Page,  Esquire,  of  Bruton  parish,  one  of  their  Majesties'  Council  .... 

dominion,  Virginia departed  this  life,  28d  of  — nuary,  in  the 

year  of  our  Lord,  — 69  J,  aged  65." 

From  this  and  another  inscription  in  Gloucester,  it  appears  that 
Governor  Page  was  wrong  when,  in  his  autobiography,  he  calls 
him  Sir  John  Page.  He  is  called  Colonel  John  Page  on  this  and 
tne  tombstone  in  Gloucester,  where  he  is  mentioned  as  the  father 
of  Matthew  Page,  who  married  Miss  Mary  Mann,  of  Timberneck. 
Colonel  Page  died  in  1690-J. 


196  OLD   CHUBCHES, 

The  following  is  the  inscription  over  his  wife  :  — 

"Here  lyeth  the  body  of  Alice  Page,  wife  to  John  Page,  of  the  county 
of  York,  in  Va.,  aged  73  years,  who  departed  this  life  the  22d  day  of 
June,  anno  domini  169-,"  [the  other  figure  being  illegible.] 

As  York  county  took  in  a  part  of  Williamsburg,  Mr.  Page  may- 
have  lived  in  or  near  it. 

Mr.  Page's  eldest  son  was  named  Francis,  who  died  at  the  early 
age  of  thirty-five,  but  not  without  being  much  distinguished  as  a 
lawyer.  To  him,  according  to  Henning,  were  committed  several 
trusts  ;  among  them,  the  revision  of  the  laws  of  the  Colony.  He 
was  also  a  vestryman  of  the  parish  of  Bruton,  and  contracted  for 
the  building  of  the  present  church  ;  that  is,  for  the  part  of  it  built 
before  the  time  of  General  Spottswood.  He  died  only  a  year  or 
two  after  his  father.  The  following  is  his  epitaph  :  — 

"Here  lyeth,  in  hope  of  a  joyful  resurrexion,  the  body  of  Captain 
Francis  Page,  of  Bruton  parish,  in  the  dominion  of  Virginia,  son  of 
Colonel  John  Page,  of  the  same  parish,  who  departed  this  life  the  10th 
day  of  May,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1692,  aged  35." 

The  following  is  a  fragment  of  the  poetic  eulogy  on  the  broken 


"  Thou  wast,  while  living,  of  unspotted  fame  : 
Now,  being  dead,  no  man  dares  soil  thy  name  ; 
For  thou  wast  one  whom  nothing  here  could  stain, 
Neither  force  of  honour  nor  love  of  gain. 
spheres,  thou  hast  well  discharged  thy  trust, 
most  truly  pious,  loyal,  just. 

and  goodness,  my  pen  cannot  expresse, 
virtues  my  tongue  cannot  rehearse, 
teemed  by  all  the  wise  and  sage 
thy  country  in  thy  age. 
we  cannot  now  speak  of  thee 

to  all  posterity 
life  did  yourself  create 
everlasting  date 
your  most  happy  wife 
and  this  life." 

Near  to  this  is  the  tomb  of  his  wife,  with  the  following  inscrip- 
tion :  — 

"  Here  lyeth,  in  hope  of  a  joyful  resurrexion,  Mary,  the  wife  of  Cap- 
tain Francis  Page,  of  Bruton  parish,  in  the  dominion  of  Va.,  daughter  of 
Edward  Digges,  Esquire,  of  Hampton  parish,  in  the  same  dominion,  who 
departed  this  life  the  eighteenth  day  of  March,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
169f,  aged  3-;"  the  second  figure  illegible. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  197 

Then  comes  the  following  eulogy : — 

"  Thy  niodest,  meek,  and  pious  soul  did  shine 
With  well-temper'd  nature,  and  grace  divine : 
One  to  excell  in  beauty,  few  could  finde ; 
Yet  thy  rarest  features  were  of  the  minde. 
Thou  wast  a  faithful  and  virtuous  wife ; 
Thou  greatly  loved  peace  and  hated  strife  ; 
Thou  wast  a  prudent  and  tender  mother, 
A  true-loving  sister  to  each  brother, 
A  choice  friend,  a  kind  neighbour  .... 
A  good  Christian,  ready  at  God's  call  .... 
Thou  lived  and  died,  upon  Christ  relying ; 
Thou  died  to  rise,  and  now  livest  by  dying. 
Thy  faith  doth  yield,  thy  piety  doth  give, 
Restoratives  to  make  thee  ever  live. 
Thrice  blessed  friend,  this  epitaph  is  thy  due ; 
When  saints  arise,  thy  Lord  will  say,  'tis  true." 

The  difficulty  of  deciphering  an  old  and  long-exposed  inscrip- 
tion may  cause  injustice  to  the  poetry,  though  we  cannot  expect 
much  in  that  line  at  that  day. 

It  seems  that  Mrs.  Page  was  the  daughter  of  Edward  Digges,  a 
man  so  well  known  and  so  justly  esteemed.  He  is  said  to  be  of 
the  parish  of  Hampton.  The  reader  must  be  guarded  against  the 
mistake  of  supposing  him  to  have  been  of  Hampton  parish,  in  Eli- 
zabeth City  county.  There  was,  at  an  early  period,  a  small  parish 
between  Williamsburg  and  York,  called  Kiskiacke,  or  Chiskiake, 
after  a  tribe  of  Indians  which  lived  on  York  River.  The  church, 
which  still  stands  a  few  miles  from  Williamsburg,  on  the  road  to 
York,  vulgarly  called  Cheesecake,  belonged  to  that  parish.  After 
a  time,  about  the  year  1742,  its  name  was  changed  to  Hampton 
parish,  and  was  so  called  when  the  Digges  lived  in  it.  After  some 
time,  the  parish  of  Hampton  was  united  to  that  of  York,  and 
the  name  York-Hampton  was  given  to  the  united  parish.  The 
family-seat  of  the  Digges  was  Bellfield,  about  eight  miles  from 
"Williamsburg,  and  is  the  same  now  owned  by  Colonel  Robert 
McCandlish.  On  a  recent  visit  to  it,  I  saw  the  large  tombs  of  Mr. 
Edward  Digges  and  others  of  the  family,  whose  epitaphs  I  shall 
present  to  the  reader  in  another  article,  in  connection  with  some 
account  of  the  Church  in  Warwick  and  of  the  family  of  Digges. 

There  is  also,  in  the  Williamsburg  churchyard,  a  tomb  of  a  Mrs. 
Page,  wife  of  John  Page  and  daughter  of  Francis  Page.  This 
John  Page  was  doubtless  Colonel  John  Page,  the  lawyer,  to  whom 
the  vestry  intrusted  the  defence  of  their  rights  when  Nicholson 
and  others  sought  to  invade  them. 


198  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

Following,  as  near  as  may  be,  the  order  of  time,  we  give  the  in- 
scription on  two  of  the  Archer  family : — 

"  Here  lies  ye  body  of  Michael  Archer,  Gentleman,  who  was  born  the 
29th  of  September,  1681,  near  Rippon  in  Yorkshire,  and  died  ye  10th  of 
February,  1726,  in  the  46th  year  of  his  age.  Also,  Joanna  Archer,  wife 
of  Michael  Archer,  who  departed  this  life  Octo.  1st,  1732. 

One  of  the  earliest  settlements  was  Archer's  Hope ;  and  the  pa- 
rish was  called  Archer's  Hope  Parish,  coming  up  within  a  few  miles 
of  William sburg,  to  what  is  called  the  College  Landing.  It  was 
in  time  merged  in  Bruton  parish.  Some  of  the  Archer  family 
continued  to  live  in  or  about  York  until  the  Revolution.  The 
name  is  often  to  be  seen  in  Henning's  Statutes,  connected  with  the 
History  of  Virginia. 

THE   FAMILY   OF   THORP. 

The  name  of  Thorp  must  be  dear  to  every  Christian  philan- 
thropist. Perhaps,  of  all  the  devoted  friends  to  the  first  Colonists 
and  the  Indians,  he  who  was  martyred,  in  the  Great  Massacre, 
stands  first  among  the  laymen.  The  name  did  not  die  with  him. 
Whether  they  were  his  descendants  or  the  descendants  of  his  rela- 
tives, we  know  not ;  but  we  meet  with  many  of  the  name  in  Vir- 
ginia. They  abounded  in  Bruton  parish,  as  the  following  epitaphs 
show : — 

"  Catherine  Thorp,  relict  of  Captain  Thomas  Thorp,  nephew  to  Major 
Thomas  Thorp,  formerly  inhabitant  of  this  parish,  after  a  pilgrimage  of 
forty-three  years  in  this  troublesome  world,  lies  down  here  to  rest  in  hope 
of  a  joyful  resurrexion.  Obiit  June  6th,  1695. 

"  Here  lyeth,  in  hope  of  a  joyful  resurrexion,  the  body  of  Captain 
Thomas  Thorp,  of  Bruton  parish,  in  the  dominion  of  Virginia,  nephew  of 
Major  Otho  Thorp,  of  the  same  parish,  who  departed  this  life  the  7th  day 
of  October,  Anno  ....  aged  48. " 

THE    BARRADALLS. 

This  name  is  also  an  ancient  and  most  respectable  one.  It  is 
another  name  for  one  learned  in  the  law, — a  name  which  for  a  long 
time  was  a  terror  to  the  young  applicant  for  a  license  to  practise 
law,  and  before  which  even  a  Pendleton  trembled  at  his  examina- 
tion. Two  of  these  were  buried  in  this  churchyard.  One  or  both  of 
them  had  been  vestrymen  of  the  parish.  Edward  Barradall  mar- 
ried Sarah,  youngest  daughter  of  the  first  William  Fitzhugh,  who 
settled  in  Virginia,  and  who  was  also  an  eminent  lawyer  in  the 
Northern  Neck,  and  belonged  to  the  Council. 


FAMILIES  OF  VIRGINIA.  199 


EPITAPH. 

"  Edwardus  Barradall,  armiger,  qui  in  legum  studiis  feliciter  versatus 
Attornati-Generalis  et  admiral itatis  judicis  amplissimas  paries  merito 
obtinuit  fideliter.  Collegium  Gulielmi  et  Marias  cum  Gubernator  turn  in 
Conventu  Generali,  Senator,  propugnavit.  Saram  Viri  Honorabilis  Gu- 
lielmi Fitzhugh  serenissimae  Reginae  anna,  in  Virginias  Conciliis,  filiam 
natu  minimam,  tarn  mortis,  quam  vitas  sociam,  uxorem  habuit.  Obierant 
— ille  13th  Cal.  Julii;  ilia  the  3d  of  the  Non.  Oct.,  Anno  Domini  1743." 

On  the  same  stone  is  the  name  of  Blumfield  Barradall,  brother 
of  Edward,  and  that  of  their  sisters  Elizabeth  and  Frances,  who 
had  placed  the  tomb  over  their  brothers. 

We  have  also  the  monuments  of  the  ancient  and  excellent  family 
of  Brays : — 

"  Here  lyeth  the  body  of  Col.  David  Bray,  of  this  parish,  .who  died  21st 
of  Octo.,  1717,  in  the  52d  year  of  his  age,  and  left  his  wife  Judith  and  son 
David  Bray,  by  whom  this  monument  was  erected,  in  memory  of  him/' 

On  the  same  is  the  following : — 

"  Under  this  tomb,  with  her  husband,  lyeth  Mrs.  Judith  Bray,  who 
departed  this  life  the  26th  day  of  October,  1720,  in  the  45th  year  !of 
her  age." 

There  is  also  a  large  marble  monument,  on  one  side  of  which  is 
the  following : — 

"  Hie  depositum  quicquid  habuit  mortale  Elizabetha  Bray,  una  cum 
marito  desideratissimo,  quas  languenti  morbo  consumpta  aniinam  resignavit 
22  die  Aprilis,  anno  1734,  astatis  32.  JSquanimiter,  Fortiter,  Pie." 

On  the  other  side  as  follows : — 

"  David  Bray,  armiger,  vir,  forma,  ingenio,  morum  suavitate 

serenissimo  reji  Georgio  Secundo,  Concilii  in  Virginia  constitutus,  tainen 
ante  munus  susceptum,  florente  estate  morteabreptus,  Elizabetham  Jo- 
hannis  Page  armigeri  filiam  natu  primam,  et  sine  prole  masrentem  reliquit, 
Octo.  1731,  setate  32." 

The  last  I  shall  record  is  the  following : — 

"  Here  lies,  in  hope  of  a  joyful  resurrexion,  all  that  was  mortal  of  John 
Greenhow,  late  of  this  city,  merchant.  He  was  born  in  Staunton,  near 
Kindall  in  Westmoreland,  Great  Britain,  November  12th,  1724,  and 
died  the  29th  of  August,  1787.  On  his  left  side  lies  Elizabeth,  the 
daughter  of  John  Tyler,  his  second  wife,  who  was  born  in  James  City, 
the  30th  of  January,  1744,  and  died  of  the  small-pox  on  July  the  23d, 
1781,  which  she  endured  with  the  greatest  Christian  fortitude  and  resig- 


200  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

I  might  add  to  these  some  monuments  which  lie  all  exposed  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Williamsburg.  Nathaniel  Bacon,  uncle  or 
near  kinsman  of  him  who  is  called  the  rebel,  and  who  was  high  in 
office  during  the  period  of  the  rebellion,  as  he  was  before  and 
after,  married  Elizabeth,  the  daughter  and  heiress  of  Richard 
Kingswell,  of  James  City  county.  His  residence  was  on  King's 
Creek,  near  York  River,  and  not  far  from  Williamsburg.  There 
are  tombstones  now  near  the  bank  of  the  river.  The  following 
inscriptions  have  been  furnished  me : — "  Here  lyeth  the  body  of 
Elizabeth,  wife  of  the  Honourable  Nathaniel  Bacon,  who  departed 
this  life  the  second  day  of  November,  one  thousand  six  hundred 
and  ninety-one,  in  the  sixty-seventh  year  of  her  age."  Also,  on 
a  mutilated  tombstone,  may  be  deciphered  these  words : — "  The 
Rev.  Thomas  Hampton,  rector  of  this  parish  in  1647."  It  is 
probable  that  he  ministered  in  one  of  those  churches  which  were 
closed  when  the  first  church  at  Williamsburg  was  built.  Another  re- 
sidence of  Nathaniel  Bacon  must  have  been  near  Williamsburg ;  for 
his  tombstone  now  lies  in  a  field  on  Dr.  Tinsley's  farm,  while  the 
tombstones  of  the  Palmer  family  are  in  the  garden  of  that  place. 
The  tombstone  of  Daniel  Parke,  whose  name  stands  first  on  the 
old  vestry-book  of  Bruton  parish  as  vestryman  and  churchwarden, 
lies  on  the  farm  called  Beal's,  near  Williamsburg. 

In  connection  with  the  above ,  I  mention  that,  in  the  Virginia 
Gazette  for  March,  1746,  it  is  stated  that  the  plate-  given  by 
Colonel  Nathaniel  Bacon  to  York-Hampton  parish  was  stolen. 
There  are  also,  I  am  told,  some  graves  and  tombstones  around  a 
church  about  ten  miles  from  Williamsburg,  called  Chickahominy 
Church,  and  lying  near  that  river.  It  may  be  that  it  was  in  one 
of  those  numerous  parishes  which  abounded  in  early  times  in  and 
around  James  City.  One  there  was,  called  Wilmington  parish, 
which  was  taken  partly  from  James  City,  and  may  have  been 
united  to  Bruton  parish.  If  so,  all  that  I  can  find  of  it  is  that  it 
was  dissolved  in  1723  and  added  to  other  parishes.  At  that  time 
it  lay  most  probably  on  both  sides  of  the  Chickahominy,  was  thirty 
miles  long  and  eight  wide,  had  one  hundred  communicants  and  one 
hundred  and  eighty  families.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Brunskill  was  the 
minister,  and  reports  that  his  parsonage  had  one  room  below  and 
a  garret  above,  and,  together  with  his  glebe,  rented  for  forty  shil- 
lings per  annum. 

At  a  recent  visit  to  Williamsburg,  my  steps  were  directed  to  the 
College  and  the  old  court-house,  in  order  to  see  if  I  could  find 
something  additional  from  the  records  thereof.  In  the  old  books 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  201 

of  the  clerk's  office,  I  was  shown  a  deed  of  one  acre  of  land  from 
some  one  for  a  new  church  in  Wilmington  parish, — probably  the 
very  church  just  spoken  of. 

There  is  mention  also  of  a  letter  of  the  Bishop  of  London 
against  swearing,  and  frequent  notices  of  thanksgiving-days.  The 
Rev.  James  Horrocks,  afterward  President  of  the  College,  was 
prevented  by  the  court  for  not  reading  the  act  for  suppressing 
vice,  as  the  law  directs.  Fifty  acres  of  land  at  Jamestown,  and 
a  house  lately  occupied  by  the  Burgesses,  were  given  to  the  justices 
of  James  City  for  a  free  school.  Susannah  Riddle  petitions  that 
her  servant,  John  Hope,  (alias  Caesar  Barber,  by  which  name  he 
was  afterward,  and  for  a  long  time,  well  known,)  might  be  allowed 
to  be  set  free,  as  he  had  served  her  faithfully  for  thirty  years. 
Mrs.  Riddle  was  the  friend  of  Mrs.  Carrington,  of  Richmond,  and 
aunt  of  Miss  Caines,  and  great-aunt  or  relative  of  Lewis  Warring- 
ton,  who  bequeathed  to  him  one  thousand  pounds,  as  mentioned  in 
a  previous  article.  The  Rev.  Robert  Andrews  was  the  guardian 
of  young  Warrington. 

From  the  records  of  the  College  I  obtained,  besides  those  pre- 
viously gotten  and  used,  one  document  worthy  of  insertion.  In 
the  will  of  Hilarity  Giles,  of  Newport  parish,  Isle  of  Wight,  giving 
a  tract  of  land  on  Blackwater  to  the  College  of  William  and 
Mary,  he  thus  begins  : — 

"First  and  principally,  above  all  things,  I  give  and  commit  my  soul 
into  the  hands  of  Almighty  God,  my  Saviour  and  Redeemer,  by  whom, 
through  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ,  I  believe  assuredly  to  be  saved,  and 
to  have  full,  full,  full  remission  and  forgiveness  of  all  my  sins." 


202  OLD   CHUKCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 


ARTICLE  XVI. 

York-Hampton  Parish. — No.  1. 

THIS  was  originally  called  Charles  River  parish,  as  the  county 
of  York  was  at  first  called  Charles  River  county  or  shire,  from 
the  river  whose  early  name  was  Charles,  afterward  York  River. 
The  name  of  Charles  River  county  was  changed  to  that  of  York 
in  1642.  Of  the  earliest  history  of  this  parish  but  little  is  known, 
as  there  is  no  vestry-book  to  be  found.  In  the  first  part  of  the 
last  century  it  was  considered  one  of  the  most  desirable  in  the 
State,  as  Mr.  Bartholomew  Yates,  of  Middlesex,  would  have  ex- 
changed his  position  for  it,  if  his  salary  had  not  been  raised  to 
twenty  thousand-weight  of  tobacco  and  his  glebe-house  repaired 
and  enlarged.*  In-  the  year  1724,  we  find,  from  a  letter  to  the 
Bishop  of  London,  that  the  Rev.  Francis  Fontaine  —  one  of  the 
Huguenot  family  which  first  settled  in  King  William  parish,  at 
Manakintown  on  James  River — had  been  the  rector  of  this  parish 
for  two  years,  on  a  salary  of  .£150,  arising  from  the  sale  of  twenty 
thousand-weight  of  sweet-scented  tobacco,  with  a  glebe  and  par- 
sonage. The  parish  was  four  miles  wide  and  twenty  miles  long, 
having  two  churches  and  two  hundred  families  in  it.  Mr.  Fon- 
taine seems  to  have  been  a  faithful  minister,  attending  to  the 
instruction  of  children  and  servants.  He  was  unfortunate  in  his 
second  marriage,  and  not  a  little  injured  by  it,  as  may  be  seen  in 
the  History  of  the  Fontaine  Family,  by  Miss  Anne  Maury  and 
Dr.  Hawks.  How  long  Mr.  Fontaine  continued  to  be  the  minister 
of  York-Hampton  we  are  unable  to  ascertain ;  but,  as  he  was  a 
good  man  and  it  was  a  good  parish,  it  is  probable  that  he  ended 
his  days  there.  The  Rev.  John  Camm  was  the  minister  there  in 
1758,  and,  we  have  reason  to  believe,  was  there  many  years 
before.  Although  President  of  the  College,  and  Commissary  from 

*  Governor  Spottswood  had  his  country-house  near  York,  early  in  the  last 
century,  at  Temple  Farm,  and,  as  will  be  seen,  a  Major  Gooch,  of  York-Hampton 
parish,  was  buried  at  that  place  in  1665.  It  had  probably  been  an  old  establish- 
ment, which  the  Governor  selected  for  its  beauty,  and  where  he  built  a  new  and 
larger  house,  and  where  he  was  buried. 


FAMILIES  OF  VIRGINIA.  203 

the  year  1771  or  1772,  he  still  continued  to  be  the  minister  of  the 
parish  until  he  left  the  College  in  1777:  how  much  longer  I  know 
not.  Mr.  Camm  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Shield,  who  was 
the  minister  to  some  now  living.*  He  was,  it  is  believed,  an 
intelligent  and  pious  man.  Some  thought  him  rather  too  much  of 
a  Methodist.  I  have  it  from  relatives  of  one  of  the  party,  that  a 
lady  of  the  old  school,  at  a  time  when  stiff  brocades  were  the 
church  dress  of  those  who  could  afford  it,  would  come  home,  after 
some  of  Mr.  Shield's  more  animated  discourses,  and  call  upon  her 
maid  to  take  off  her  clothes,  for  she  had  heard  so  much  of  hell, 
damnation,  and  death,  that  it  would  take  her  all  the  evening  to 
get  cool.  I  have  one  of  his  sermons,  which  does  credit  to  his 
head  and  heart,  without  being  at  all  violent  or  extravagant.  Mr. 
Shield  had  a  correspondent  in  London, — a  merchant,  of  good 
sense  and  apparent  piety,  to  whom  he  shipped  his  tobacco, — a 
number  of  whose  letters  have  been  furnished  me.  In  one  of 
them  there  is  allusion  to  the  fact  of  Mr.  Shield's  retiring  from 
the  ministry,  and  engaging  in  political  life  by  entering  the  Vir- 
ginia Assembly.  Mr.  Shield  replies  at  length,  and  solemnly  de- 
clares that  preaching  the  gospel  was  the  occupation  of  all  others 
in  which  he  delighted,  but  that  loss  of  his  voice  had  incapacitated 
him  from  either  reading  the  service  or  preaching,  and  that  he 
acted  under  the  advice  of  Bishop  Madison  in  discontinuing  all 
efforts.  The  disease  seems  to  have  been  what  is  now  well  known 
as  bronchitis,  though  he  is  at  a  loss  even  to  describe  it,  so  rare 
was  the  complaint  at  that  time.  His  correspondent — Mr.  Graham 
Frank,  a  gentleman  well  known  to  the  merchants  of  York — men- 
tions having  seen  Bishop  Madison  when  he  came  to  London  for 
consecration,  and  that  he  was  much  pleased  with  the  spirit  and 
plans  with  which  he  was  about  to  engage  in  his  work.  Mr.  Frank 
had  seen  him  some  years  before,  on  a  visit  to  Virginia,  and  was 
not  pleased  with  him  on  account  of  his  political  principles.  As 
Mr.  Frank  was  a  man  of  zeal  for  the  great  doctrines  of  the 
Church,  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  the  Bishop  was  in  a  good 
frame  of  mind,  as  may  be  seen  in  his  address  on  entering  upon 
the  duties  of  the  Episcopate  soon  after.  Mr.  Shield,  in  his  letter 
to  his  friend,  mentions  that  he  had  continued  to  perform  his  duties 
with  great  pain,  and  in  part  only,  until  he  could  get  his  place 


*  Mr.  Shield  was  a  friend  of  General  Nelson,  who  recommended  him  to  Bishop 
Porteus  for  orders,  in  1774,  and  wrote  to  the  merchant  to  advance  him  £50. 


204  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

supplied,  which  was  now  about  to  be  done  by  the  ordination  of  a 
son  of  a  former  rector  of  the  parish  and  President  of  the  College. 
If  the  son  did  enter  upon  this  charge,  I  do  not  think  he  continued 
it  long,  but  removed  to  a  parish  in  York  county,  called  Charles 
parish,  and  which  had  formerly  been  served  by  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Warrington,  grandfather  of  Commodore  Warrington,  and  by  a 
Mr.  Joseph  Davenport  afterward.  York  had  not  recovered  from 
the  ruins  of  the  siege,  and  was  now  no  longer  the  desirable  parish 
it  had  been.  The  old  families  were  deserting  it,  and  the  inhabit- 
ants around  connecting  themselves  with  other  denominations. 
Nevertheless,  we  hear  of  three  ministers  occupying  it, — a  Rev.  Mr. 
Scott,  Mr.  Henderson,  and  Brockenbrough,  neither  of  whom  were 
calculated  to  arrest  its  downfall.  At  length,  in  the  year  1815, 
the  old  church  was  burned  down.  The  material  of  the  church  was 
remarkable.  The  walls  were  made  of  blocks  of  marl,  taken  out 
of  the  bank  of  the  river  on  which  it  stood,  and  which  hardened  by 
exposure.  It  was  cemented  yet  the  more  by  the  fire,  which 
caused  it  to  melt  somewhat  and  thus  form  one  solid  wall,  which 
continued  to  stand  until  the  roof  and  other  parts  were  renewed 
a  few  years  since,  of  which  we  shall  speak  more  particularly  here- 
after. 

We  sometimes  turn  aside  from  the  succession  and  character 
of  ministers  and  churches,  to  cast  a  glance  over  the  scenery,  or  to 
call  up  recollections  of  departed  friends.  We  have  recently  done 
this  in  the  case  of  Jamestown  and  some  of  its  inhabitants,  the 
Jaquelines  and  Amblers.  Surely,  if  there  be  any  spot  in  Vir- 
ginia where  we  may  be  allowed  to  pause  and  look  around  us,  re- 
membering the  past  and  dwelling  with  tender  emotions  on  the 
present,  that  spot  is  old  York.  To  use  the  language  of  one  who 
has  furnished  materials  for  much  of  what  follows : — 

"  The  river  is  full  a  mile  wide  at  York,  which  is  eleven  miles  from  its 
mouth,  and  is  seen  stretching  itself  away  until  it  merges  itself  into  the 
Chesapeake  Bay.  The  sun  rises  immediately  over  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  and  the  water  is  tinged  with  the  rainbow-hues  of  heaven.  We 
have  watched  with  much  interest  the  decline  of  day  from  the  New  York 
Battery,  but  we  doubt  if  New  York  Harbour — compared,  as  it  is,  with 
the  Bay  of  Naples — ever  presented  to  the  eye  a  more  enchanting  spec- 
tacle than  York  River  in  its  morning  glory.  Beautiful  for  situation  is 
Old  York,  stretching  east  and  west  on  as  no-ble  a  sheet  of  water  as  rolls 
beneath  the  sun.  But  painful  is  the  contrast  of  what  it  now  is  with 
what  it  once  was.  It  is  only  when  we  turn  to  the  river,  '  the  work  of 
an  Almighty  hand/  that  the  force  of  that  Scripture  is  felt, — 1 1  change 
not/ 


05      I 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  205 

"  *  Here's  nothing  left  of  ancient  pride, 
Of  what  was  grand,  of  what  was  gay ; 
But  all  is  changed,  is  lost,  is  sold  : 
All,  all  that's  left  is  chilling  cold.'  " 

A  few  venerable  relics  of  the  past  are  all  that  may  now  be 
seen.  The  old  York  House  is  the  most  memorable.  The  corner- 
stone of  it  was  laid  by  old  President  Nelson,  when  an  infant,  as  it 
was  designed  for  him.  He  was  held  by  his  nurse,  and  the  brick 
laid  in  his  apron  and  passed  through  his  little  hands.  The  bricks 
were  all  from  England, — the  corners  of  hewn  stone.  It  was  long 
the  abode  of  love,  friendship,  and  hospitality. 

"  Farewell :  a  prouder  mansion  I  may  see, 
But  much  must  meet  in  that  which  equals  thee." 

As  one  said  of  modern  Italy,  "  Our  memory  sees  more  than  our 
eyes  in  this  place."  What  Paulding  says  of  Virginia  may  em- 
phatically be  said  of  York, — 

"All  hail,  thou  birthplace  of  the  glowing  West! 
Thou  seem'st  the  towering  eagle's  ruin'd  nest." 

Let  us,  by  the  aid  of  well- attested  tradition  and  history,  speak 
a  few  words  concerning  it  and  some  of  its  old  inhabitants.  It  was 
established  as  a  town  and  laid  out  in  the  year  1705.  The  founder 
of  it  was  a  Mr.  Thomas  Nelson,  the  first  of  the  name  in  Virginia. 
He  came  from  Penriff,  near  the  border  of  Scotland,  and  was  called 
Scotch  Tom  on  that  account.  He  set  up  a  mercantile  establish- 
ment in  this  place,  as  the  first  of  the  Amblers  did  soon  after.  He 
married  a  Miss  Reid  of  the  neighbouring  country,  and  had  two 
sons  and  one  daughter.  At  her  death  he  married  a  widow  Tucker, 
whose  husband  was  from  Barbadoes,  where,  and  in  Bermuda,  that 
name  abounded.  His  two  sons  settled  in  York.  His  daughter 
married  Colonel  Berkeley,  of  Middlesex.  His  eldest  son,  Thomas, 
is  the  same  who  was  called  Secretary  Nelson,  because  a  long  time 
Secretary  of  the  Council.  He  had  three  sons  in  the  American 
Revolution,  whose  descendants  are  all  over  Virginia.  The  other 
son  of  old  Thomas  Nelson  was  named  William,  and  has  always 
been  called  President  Nelson,  because  so  often  President  of  the 
Council,  and  at  one  time  President  of  the  Colony.  He  married  a 
Miss  Burwell,  grand-daughter  of  Mr.  Robin  Carter,  called  King 
Carter.  He  had  many  daughters,  but  none  lived  beyond  the 
twelfth  year.  He  had  many  sons  also,  the  eldest  of  whom  was 
General  Thomas  Nelson  of  the  Revolution.  One  of  his  sons  was 
burned  to  death,  and  another  became  an  idiot  by  a  fall  from  an 


206  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

upper  story.  These  afflictions  contributed  to  make  Mrs.  Nelson  a 
"woman  of  a  sorrowful  spirit."  She  had  been  also  educated 
religiously  by  her  aunt,  Mrs.  Page,  of  Rose  well.  She  was  a  truly 
pious  and  conscientious  woman.  Her  private  and  public  exercises 
of  religion,  her  well-known  frequent  prayers  for  her  children  and 
pious  instruction  of  them,  and  exemplary  conduct  in  all  things, 
established  this  beyond  all  contradiction.*  Mrs.  Nelson  was  not 
alone  in  her  personal  piety,  nor  in  her  wishes  and  endeavours  for 
the  religious  welfare  of  her  children.  President  Nelson  performed 
his  part  most  faithfully.  His  eldest  son,  afterward  General 
Nelson,  was  placed  under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Yates,  of 
Gloucester,  afterward  President  of  William  and  Mary  College,  in 
order  to  prepare  him  for  an  English  University.  At  the  age  of 
fourteen — sooner  than  was  intended — he  was  sent  thither.  The 
circumstance  which  hastened  his  going  was  the  following.  On  one 
Sunday  afternoon,  as  his  father  was  walking  on  the  outskirts  of 
the  village  of  York,  (for  it  was  then  but  a  village,  and  never  much 
more,)  he  found  him  at  play  with  some  of  the  little  negroes  of  the 
place.  Feeling  the  evil  of  such  associations,  and  the  difficulty  of 
preventing  them,  he  determined  to  send  him  at  once  to  England, 
and,  a  vessel  being  ready  to  sail,  he  was  despatched  the  next  day 
to  the  care  of  his  friends, — Mr.  Hunt,  of  London,  and  Beilby 
Porteus,  then  Fellow  of  Cambridge  University.  He  went  for  some 

*  The  two  following  hymns  have  come  down  in  the  family  as  her  morning  exer- 
sises : — 

HYMN  I. 

"  Preserved  by  thee  another  day. 

Another  song  I'll  raise  ; 
Accept,  I  pray,  for  Jesus  sake, 
My  gratitude  and  praise. 

"  Then  take  me  underneath  thy  wing, 

My  God,  my  guardian  be ; 
That  in  the  morning  I  may  sing 
Another  song  to  thee." 

HYMN  IL 

"  Thanks  to  my  Saviour  for  a  bed 
On  which  to  lay  my  drowsy  head ; 
Oh,  may  my  weary  spirit  rest 
As  sweetly  on  my  Saviour's  breast. 

"Jesus,  the  sinner's  precious  friend, 
On  Thee  alone  will  I  depend : 
Thou  art  my  refuge,  and  to  Thee 
My  spirit  shall  in  safety  flee." 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  207 

time  to  a  preparatory  school  of  Dr.  Newcome,  at  Hackney,  and 
then  to  the  especial  care  and  tutorship  of  Dr.  Porteus.  The  letters 
of  Mr.  Nelson  to  Mr.  Hunt  and  Dr.  Porteus,  copies  of  which  I  have, 
and  the  answers  to  which  are  acknowledged,  evince  deep  anxiety 
for  the  improvement  of  his  son  in  all  things,  but  especially  in 
morals  and  religion.  He  is  evidently  uneasy  about  the  spirited 
character  of  his  son,  fearing  lest  it  might  lead  him  astray,  and 
begs  his  friends  to  inform  him  if  his  son  shows  a  disposition  to 
idleness  and  pleasure.  In  order  to  avoid  the  temptations  incident 
to  young  men  during  the  vacation,  especially  such  as  are  far  away 
from  friends,  he  requests  Dr.  Porteus  to  place  him,  during  those 
seasons,  with  some  eminent  scientific  agriculturist,  and  thus  pre- 
pare him  for  dealing  with  the  soils  of  America.  After  seven  years, 
he  returns  home,  being  delayed  several  months  beyond  the  time  he 
intended,  by  a  circumstance  which  showed  the  religious  character 
of  his  father.  In  a  letter  to  his  friend  Mr.  Hunt,  he  alludes  to  the 
fact  that  two  young  Virginians,  whose  habits  he  feared  were  not  good, 
were  coming  over  in  the  ship  in  which  he  expected  his  son,  and  he 
must  request  that  he  be  not  sent  with  them  ;  that  he  would  rather 
his  coming  be  postponed  six  months  than  have  them  as  his  com- 
panions, though  they  were  sons  of  some  of  the  first  families  of 
Virginia,  and  of  those  who  were  on  terms  of  intimacy  with  his. 
His  return  was  accordingly  delayed  for  some  months.  On  his  ar- 
rival, Mr.  Nelson  writes  to  his  friends  in  England  that  he  is  much 
pleased  with  the  general  improvement  of  his  son,  but  regrets  to  find 
that  he  has  fallen  into  that  bad  practice,  which  most  of  the  young 
Virginians  going  to  England  adopt,  of  smoking  tobacco, — adding, 
emphatically,  "filthy  tobacco;"  also  that  "of  eating  and  drinking, 
though  not  to  inebriety,  more  than  was  conducive  to  health  and 
long  life."  Still,  he  was  rejoiced  to  see  him,  such  as  he  was,  with 
good  principles.  In  proof  of  the  respect  in  which  President  Nel- 
son was  held,  and  the  hopes  entertained  of  his  son,  we  state  that, 
though  having  been  absent  seven  years,  and  being  just  twenty-one 
years  of  age,  he  was  elected  to  the  House  of  Burgesses  while  on 
his  voyage  home.  If  it  be  said  that  even  immoral  and  irreligious 
parents  sometimes  wish  to  see  their  sons  moral  and  religious,  we 
further  add,  that  President  Nelson  gave  most  varied  proof  of  great 
uprightness  of  character.  One  such  is  furnished  in  a  letter  to 
some  relatives  in  the  North  of  England.  He  had  redeemed  an 
estate  in  that  region  by  paying  off  its  debts,  by  which  it  became 
his  own.  It  proved  to  be  much  more  valuable  than  was  expected, 
and,  discovering  that  some  other  relative  had  a  better  right  to  re- 


208  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  AND 

deem  it,  voluntarily  offered  to  surrender  the  estate  or  all  the  profits. 
His  commercial  character  was  of  the  highest  order.  He  imported 
goods  for  merchants  of  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore,  which  places 
were  then  in  an  incipient  stage.  By  this  means  he  acquired  a 
large  fortune,  leaving  landed  estates  and  servants  to  each  of  his 
five  sons, — Thomas,  Hugh,  William,  Nat,  and  Robert, — and  all  of 
his  other  property,  amounting,  according  to  the  statement  of  the 
elder  St.  George  Tucker,  to  forty  thousand  pounds,  to  his  oldest 
son,  General  Nelson,  who  had  been  engaged  in  business  with  him.* 
His  interest  in  the  affairs  of  religion  and  the  Church  was  mani- 
fested by  his  taking  the  lead  in  the  parish.  The  parish,  though 
narrow,  was  long,  and  many,  especially  of  the  poor,  must  come 
some  distance  to  church.  On  Church-Sundays  he  always  had  a 
large  dinner  prepared,  to  which  rich  and  poor  were  indiscriminately 
invited.  After  having  been  President  of  the  Council  for  a  long 
term  of  years,  on  the  decease  of  Lord  Botetourt  there  was  an 
interregnum,  during  which  he,  as  President  of  the  Council,  was 
Acting  Governor  of  the  State,  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  repre- 
sentative of  the  King.  By  two  letters  to  Lord  Hillsborough  now 
before  me,  in  the  years  1770  and  1771,  he  displays  his  determina- 
tion to  do  his  duty  in  relation  to  unworthy  clergymen,  of  whom 
there  were  some  needing  discipline,  and  asks  full  and  undoubted 
authority  for  so  doing,  as  such  authority  required  to  be  renewed 
from  the  throne.  I  conclude  what  yet  remains  to  be  said  of  Pre- 
sident "William  Nelson  by  a  few  extracts  from  a  printed  sermon 
on  his  death,  by  Mr.  Camm,  the  minister  of  York  and  President 
of  William  and  Mary  College.  He  ascribes  to  him  "a  rational 
and  firm  piety,  an  active  and  constant  affection  for  the  well-being 
and  best  interests  of  mankind;"  speaks  of  him  as  "constant  in 
his  attendance  at  the  ordinary  service  of  God  and  the  celebration 
of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  exhibiting  unaffected  and  fervent  devo- 
tion." He  was — 

a  The  kind  and  indulgent  father,  without  suffering  the  excess  of  fond- 
ness to  take  off  his  eye  from  the  true  and  best  interests  of  his  children; 
the  tender  husband,  the  affectionate  brother,  the  useful  and  entertaining 


*  Judge  Tucker,  on  reaching  this  country  from  Bermuda  or  the  West  Indies, 
landed  at  Yorktown,  and  being  invited  to  General  Nelson's  house,  where  he  spent 
some  days,  a  warm  friendship  commenced  between  them,  which  continued  during 
the  life  of  General  Nelson,  and  was,  at  his  death,  transferred  to  the  surviving 
family  by  Judge  Tucker.  The  latter  wrote  a  brief  biography  of  General  Nelson, 
of  which  I  have  a  manuscript  copy.  Whether  it  was  ever  published  or  not,  I  am 
not  able  to  say. 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA. 


209 


friend,  the  kind  and  generous  master.  His  hospitality  was  extensive  and 
liberal,  yet  judicious,  and  not  set  free  from  the  restraints  of  reason  and 
religion.  It  was  not  a  blind  propensity  to  profuseness,  or  a  passion  for  a 
name,  by  which  he  corrupted  the  morals  of  his  friends  and  neighbours. 
He  was  no  encourager  of  intemperance  or  riot,  or  any  practice  tending  to 
injure  the  health,  the  reputation,  the  fortunes,  or  the  religious  attainments 
of  his  company.  His  charities  were  many,  and  dispensed  with  choice 
and  discretion,  and  so  as  to  be  most  serviceable  to  the  receivers  and  the 
least  oppressive  to  their  modesty.  As  one  of  the  first  and  most  respect- 
able merchants  in  this  dominion,  he  had  great  opportunity  of  being  ac- 
quainted with  the  circumstances  of  many  people  whose  cases  otherwise 
would  have  escaped  his  knowledge.  This  knowledge  was  often  turned  to 
their  advantage  whose  affairs  fell  under  his  consideration.  I  think  I  shall 
have  the  concurring  voice  of  the  public  with  me,  when  I  say  that  his  own 
gain  by  trade  was  not  more  sweet  to  him  than  the  help  which  he  hereby 
received  toward  becoming  a  general  benefactor.  He  was  an  instance  of 
what  abundance  of  good  may  be  done  by  a  prudent  and  conscientious 
man  without  impoverishing  himself  or  his  connections, — nay,  while  his 
fortunes  are  improving.  An  estate  raised  with  an  unblemished  reputa- 
tion, and  diffused  from  humane  and  devout  motives  in  the  service  of  mul- 
titudes as  well  as  the  owner's,  it  may  reasonably  be  expected  will  wear 
well,  and  have  the  blessing  of  Providence  to  attend  and  protect  it  from 
generation  to  generation/' 

This  last  remark  has  certainly  been  in  a  good  degree  fulfilled  in 
the  descendants  of  President  Nelson.  Though  they  have  not  been 
rich  in  this  world's  goods,  yet  they  have  not  suffered  through  want. 
Many  of  them  have  held  respectable  offices  in  the  State  and  General 
Government.  Almost  all  of  them  have  been  enabled  to  obtain  a 
good  education, — the  best  fortune  in  a  country  like  ours, — so  as  to 
associate  with  the  most  respectable  portion  of  the  community. 
Many  of  them  have  obtained  the  highest  of  all  honours, — the 
honour  which  cometh  from  God  only.  It  is  true  that  the  first  son, 
to  whom  the  birthright  of  those  days — the  amplest  fortune — was 
given,  spent  it  in  his  country's  service,  leaving  his  widow  and 
children  in  comparative  poverty.  But  he  spent  it  nobly,  as  his 
father  would  have  done  had  he  lived  to  see  the  mighty  struggle  for 
our  liberties.  Although  that  father  was  the  first  in  the  Govern- 
ment only  a  few  years  before,  and  was  the  right  hand  of  George 
III.  in  this  Colony,  addressed  in  his  commission  as  "  My  well- 
beloved  and  worshipful,  greeting,"  yet  at  that  very  time  the  letters 
to  his  merchants  and  friends  in  London  show  that  he  had  the  soul 
of  a  patriot  as  well  as  a  Christian  within  him, — that  he  was  indig- 
nant at  the  imposition  of  the  British  Parliament, — and  leave  none 
to  doubt  where  he  would  have  been  found  when  the  trumpet 
sounded  to  arms.  The  thousands  which  General  Nelson  cast  upon 
the  waters  were  not  lost,  but  soon  sprung  up  in  a  plentiful  harvest 

14 


210  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,   AND 

% 

of  rich  blessings  to  his  country,  on  which  let  his  latest  posterity 
reflect  with  delight,  and  enjoy  as  a  richer  inheritance  than  thou- 
sands of  silver  and  gold.* 

This  leads  me  to  add  a  few  words  concerning  that  patriot  him- 
self, confining  my  remarks  as  nearly  as  possible  to  the  special 
character  of  the  work  I  have  in  hand.  I  mean  the  moral  and 
religious  character  of  the  persons  treated  of.  Whether  General 
Nelson  was  ever  in  full  communion  with  the  Church,  I  am  not  able 
to  say.f  That  he  was  a  believer  in  the  Gospel  in  that  age  of  blas- 
phemy with  so  many,  and  that  he  was  the  friend  of  religion,  cannot 
be  doubted.  In  writing  to  his  own  and  his  father's  friend  in  Lon- 
don, Mr.  Samuel  Martin,  the  27th  of  January,  1773,  he  says : — 

"  It  falls  to  my  lot  to  acquaint  you  with  the  death  of  my  father,  who 
departed  this  life  the  19th  of  last  November.  His  life  was  exemplary, 
being  blessed  with  both  public  and  private  virtues.  His  death  was  such 
as  became  a  true  Christian,  hoping  through  the  mediation  of  our  blessed 
Saviour  to  meet  with  the  reward  promised  to  the  righteous.  But  I  must 
stop  here,  lest  prejudice  should  lead  me  too  far." 

His  friendship  to  God's  ministers  may  be  seen,  about  that  time, 
by  the  introduction  of  Mr.  Samuel  Shield  to  his  friend  in  London, 
with  a  request  that  he  would  pay  him  <£50  on  his  account.  Hitherto 
there  was  a  king's  bounty  of  .£50  to  all  who  came  over  for  Orders. 
But  this  was  in  the  year  1774,  and  probably  Mr.  Nelson  appre- 
hended some  difficulty,  for,  only  two  years  after,  Orders  were 
refused,  such  was  the  state  of  things  between  the  Colony  and 
Great  Britain. J  We  have  seen  that  in  the  year  1775  the  College 


*  Although  it  does  not  come  strictly  under  the  character  of  this  work,  I  cannot 
help  referring  to  a  circumstance  -which  occurred  just  at  the  opening  of  the  war, 
which  shows  that  the  citizens  of  little  York  were  a  valiant  race.  On  a  certain 
occasion,  a  Captain  Montague  drew  up  a  ship-of-war  before  it,  and  threatened  that, 
in  a  certain  event,  he  would  fire  upon  the  town.  Though  full  of  helpless  women 
and  children,  the  committee  of  the  place,  on  meeting  to  receive  his  message,  "Re- 
solved, unanimously,  that  Mr.  Montague  had  manifested  a  spirit  of  cruelty  unpre- 
cedented in  the  annals  of  civilized  times,  and  that  it  be  recommended  to  the  inha- 
bitants of  the  town  and  of  the  country  in  general,  that  they  do  not  entertain,  or 
show  any  other  mark  of  civility  to  Captain  Montague,  besides  what  common  de- 
cency and  absolute  necessity  requires." 

f  I  have  since  heard  that  General  Nelson  was  certainly  a  communicant  of  the 
Church, — at  any  rate,  during  the  latter  part  of  his  life. 

Jin  a  letter  to  one  of  his  friends  a  year  or  two  afterward,  he  says,  "What 
think  you  of  the  Eight  Reverend  Fathers  in  God,  the  Bishops  ?  One  of  them 
refused  to  ordain  a  young  gentleman  who  went  from  America,  because  he  was  a 
rebellious  American ;  so  that,  unless  we  will  submit  to  Parliamentary  oppression, 
we  shall  not  have  the  Gospel  of  Christ  preached  to  us." 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  211 

voted  <£50  to  Mr.  Madison  when  he  went  over  for  Orders.  In  the 
following  year  I  see  an  instance  of  liberality  in  General  Nelson's 
provision  for  a  number  of  families  in  York,  who  had  been  driven 
from  their  homes  by  Lord  Dunmore's  troops.  Again  I  see  his  high 
and  honourable  character,  in  imitation  of  that  integrity  which  his 
father  displayed  in  all  his  dealings,  when  it  was  proposed  in  the 
House  of  Burgesses  to  adopt  some  method  of  discharging  British 
debts  which  he  considered  improper.  He  indignantly  opposed  it>  de- 
claring, some  say,  with  an  oath ;  others,  far  more  probably,  "  So  help 
me  God,  others  may  do  as  they  please,  but  I  will  pay  all  my  debts 
like  an  honest  man."  I  might  add  numerous  testimonies  to  his 
unbounded  liberality  toward  his  comrades  in  the  war  when  far  from 
home.  It  becomes  not  me  to  speak  of  the  hundreds  of  thousands 
procured  on  his  own  credit  for  the  use  of  the  State,  when  not  a 
dollar  could  be  gotten  on  its  own,  nor  how  the  account  stood  be- 
tween them  at  the  close  of  that  war.  He  certainly  entered  upon 
it  very  rich,  and  came  out  of  it  so  poor  that  when  a  few  years  had 
passed  away,  and  he  was  laid  in  the  old  graveyard  at  York,  without 
a  headstone  or  slab  to  mark  the  spot,  his  property,  save  the  old 
house  in  deserted  York  and  some  poor  broom-straw  fields  in  Hano- 
ver, was  put  up  at  public  sale  to  pay  the  debts  contracted  in  his 
country's  cause.*  Even  the  old  family  Bible,  with  the  births  and 
baptisms  of  the  family,  with  the  little  table  on  which  it  stood,  was 
(though,  I  doubt  not,  by  mistake)  sold  on  that  occasion.  Within 
the  last  year,  in  one  of  my  visitations  among  the  mountains,  I 
heard  of  this  Bible.  So  was  it  valued  by  the  family  now  having 
it,  whose  baptisms  and  births  had  also  there  been  registered,  that 
they  could  not  be  induced  to  relinquish  it  to  one  of  the  descendants 
of  its  original  owner. 

The  following  account  of  General  Nelson's  family  at  Offley,  a 
small  wooden  house  in  Hanover  county,  Virginia,  by  the  French 
traveller,  Chattellux,  soon  after  the  war,  will  not  be  uninteresting 
to  the  reader : — 

*  Chancellor  Nelson,  the  General's  youngest  son,  used  to  amuse  himself  with  his 
relatives  in  Hanover,  by  telling  them  that  their  favourite  hymn  seemed  to  be  that 
one  in  which  were  the  two  lines, — 

"  Send  comfort  down  from  thy  right  hand, 
To  cheer  us  in  this  barren  land." 

But  still,  as  some  one  said  of  the  people  of  Iceland,  that  "poverty  was  the  bul- 
wark of  their  happiness,"  so  it  is,  and  has  been,  with  many  of  the  descendants  of 
General  Nelson,  in  one  respect:  they  have  not  been  tempted  by  riches  to  "be  full 
and  deny  God." 


212  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

"  In  the  absence  of  the  General,  (who  had  gone  to  William sburg,)  his 
mother  and  wife  received  us  with  all  the  politeness,  ease,  and  cordiality 
natural  to  his  family.  But,  as  in  America  the  ladies  are  never  thought 
sufficient  to  do  the  honours  of  the  house,  five  or  six  Nelsons  were  assem- 
bled to  receive  us, — among  others,  Secretary  Nelson,  uncle  to  the  General, 
his  two  sons,  and  two  of  the  General's  brothers.  These  young  men  were 
married,  and  several  of  them  were  accompanied  with  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren, all  called  Nelsons,  and  distinguished  only  by  their  Christian  names  j 
so  that,  during  the  two  days  which  I  spent  in  this  truly  patriarchal  house, 
it  was  impossible  for  me  to  find  out  their  degrees  of  relationship.  The 
company  assembled  either  in  the  parlour  or  saloon,  especially  the  men, 
from  the  hour  of  breakfast  to  that  of  bedtime ;  but  the  conversation  was 
always  agreeable  and  well  supported.  If  you  were  desirous  of  diversifying 
the  scene,  there  were  some  good  French  and  English  authors  at  hand.  An 
excellent  breakfast  at  nine  o'clock,  a  sumptuous  dinner  at  two,  tea  and 
punch  in  the  afternoon,  and  an  elegant  little  supper,  divided  the  day  most 
happily  for  those  whose  stomachs  were  never  unprepared.  It  is  worth 
observing,  that  on  this  occasion,  where  fifteen  or  twenty  people  (four  of 
whom  were  strangers  to  the  family  and  country)  were  assembled  together, 
and  by  bad  weather  forced  to  stay  within  doors,  not  a  syllable  was  said 
about  play.  How  many  parties  of  tric-trac,  whist,  and  lotto  would  with 
us  have  been  the  consequence  of  such  obstinate  bad  weather  I" 

We  shall  probably  find  an  explanation  of  this  absence  of  all 
games,  not  only  by  the  presence  of  such  pious  ladies  as  General 
Nelson's  mother  and  wife,  but  in  the  fact  that  old  President  Nelson 
had  trained  up  his  family  otherwise,  and  at  a  time  when  card-play- 
ing and  other  games  were  but  too  common.  We  infer  this  from  a  let- 
ter of  his  to  a  friend  in  England,  concerning  some  young  man  in 
whom,  they  were  both  interested,  and  of  whom  Mr.  Nelson  entertains 
painful  apprehension  because  he  had  gone  to  a  part  of  the  State 
where  cards,  racing,  and  suchlike  things  were  freely  practised. 
We  cannot  forbear  mentioning  one  circumstance  that  comes  to  us  on 
undoubted  authority,  concerning  the  second  son  of  President  Nelson, 
— Colonel  Hugh  Nelson,  of  York.  He  followed  the  example  of  his 
father's  piety,  and  was  a  kind  of  lay  preacher  to  the  families  in  York, 
especially  to  those  of  his  own  name.  Besides  reading  the  service 
and  sermon  in  the  church  every  other  Sunday  in  the  absence  of  the 
minister,  and  every  Sunday  when  there  was  no  minister,  as  was 
often  the  case  after  the  war,  he  acted  as  minister  in  preparing  the 
candidates  for  the  first  confirmation  ever  held  in  York,  soon  after 
Bishop  Madison's  return  from  England  with  Episcopal  consecra- 
tion. On  the  morning  of  the  confirmation  he  assembled  them  all 
in  the  large  parlour  or  hall  at  the  old  house  in  York,  and  addressed 
them  on  the  nature  of  that  rite.  That,  and  the  scene  in  church 
which  soon  followed,  has  been  often  described  as  most  deeply 
affecting  by  one  of  his  own  children,  the  youngest  recipient  of  the 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  213 

rite,  the  late  Mrs.  Edmund  Pendleton,  mother  of  the  Rev.  William. 
N.  Pendleton.  We  close  with  the  expression  of  deep  regret  that 
many  documents,  from  which  we  might  have  drawn  other  passages 
of  interest  touching  President  and  General  Nelson,  are  not  to  be 
found.  Of  the  numerous  letters  to  correspondents  in  England, 
written  during  a  long  series  of  years,  only  those  of  the  last  six  of 
President  Nelson's  life— from  1766  to  1772— are  to  be  had.  The 
same  loss  is  felt  as  to  the  letters  of  General  Nelson.  Not  long 
before  his  death  he  caused  them  all  to  be  collected  and  filed  by 
his  son,  Mr.  Philip  Nelson,  who  had  been  trained  to  the  mercantile 
life ;  and  among  them  that  son  always  remembered  and  often 
spoke  of  some  most  interesting  ones  from  Washington,  Lafayette, 
and  others  during  and  after  the  war.  These  also  have  disappeared. 
His  papers  and  those  of  his  father  descended,  together  with  the 
old  York  house,  to  one  of  his-  sons  and  the  descendants  of  the 
same.  They  were  doubtless  objects  of  curiosity  and  desire  to  its 
numerous  visitors  from  all  parts  of  the  State  and  land,  especially 
after  it  became,  as  it  was  for  many  years,  one  of  public  entertain- 
ment. Too  freely  may  the  desire  and  curiosity  of  travellers  and 
visitors  have  been  yielded  to,  and  too  little,  as  in  many  other  cases 
in  Virginia,  have  such  relics  of  our  ancestors  been  prized. 

Although  no  apology  is  needed  for  the  more  full  and  particular 
notice  of  the  family  of  Nelsons  which  has  been  given,  it  may  be 
well  to  state  that  my  more  intimate  connection  with  it  for  nearly 
fifty  years  has  furnished  me  with  the  means  of  such  fulness  and 
particularity.  As  to  others  less  known  to  me,  and  worthy  of  spe- 
cial notice  for  their  religious  character  and  attachment  to  the  Epis- 
copal Church,  I  invite  communications.  Some  have  been  sent  and 
gladly  used. 

TOMBSTONES   AND   INSCRIPTIONS    IN    THE   OLD   CHURCHYARD   AT 

YORK. 

But  few  of  these  remain,  and  some  of  them  are  broken  and  ille- 
gible. That  of  the  first  Nelson  and  the  founder  of  the  town  is  as 
follows : — 

"Hie  jacet,  spe  certa  resurgendi  in  Christo,  Thomas  Nelson,  Generosus; 
Filius  Hugonis  et  Sariae  Nelson,  de  Penrith,  in  comitate  Cumbrise.  Na- 
tus  20mo  die  Februarii,  Anno  Domini  1677.  Vitse  bene  gestae  fmein  im- 
plevit  7mo  die  Octobris,  1745,  aatatis  suse  68." 

Which  is  thus  rendered  into  English : — 


214  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

"  Here  lies,  in  the  certain  Tiope  of  being  raised  up  in  Christ,  Thomas 
Nelson,  Gentleman ;  the  son  of  Hugh  and  Sarah  Nelson,  of  Penrith,  in 
the  county  of  Cumberland.  Born  the  20th  of  February,  1677.  He 
completed  a  well-spdnt  life  on  the  7th  of  October,  1745,  in  his  sixty- 
eighth  year." 

Adjoining  this  is  the  tomb  of  his  son.  President  Nelson,  whose 
character  has  been  portrayed  in  the  first  article  on  this  parish. 
The  inscription  is  as  follows : — 

"  Here  lies  the  body  of  the  Honourable  William  Nelson,  Esquire,  late 
President  of  his  Majesty's  Council  in  this  Dominion  j  in  whom  the  love 
of  man  and  the  love  of  God  so  restrained  and  enforced  each  other,  and 
so  invigorated  the  mental  powers  in  general,  as  not  only  to  defend  him 
from  the  vices  and  follies  of  his  age  and  country,  but  also  to  render  it  a 
matter  of  difficult  decision  in  what  part  of  laudable  conduct  he  most  ex- 
celled,— whether  in  the  tender  and  endearing  accomplishments  of  domestic 
life,  or  in  the  more  arduous  duties  of  a  wider  circuit, — whether  as  a 
neighbour,  a  gentleman,  or  a  magistrate, — whether  in  the  graces  of  hospi- 
tality or  piety.  Reader,  if  you  feel  the  spirit  of  that  exalted  ardour 
which  aspires  to  the  felicity  of  conscious  virtue,  animated  by  those  conso- 
lations and  divine  admonitions,  perform  the  task  and  expect  the  distinc- 
tion of  the  righteous  man.  He  died  the  19th  of  November,  Anno 
Domini  1772,  aged  61." 

The  latter  part  of  this  epitaph  savours  much  of  the  language  of 
the  pulpit  in  that  day.  The  epitaph  was  probably  written  by 
President  Camm. 

Very  near  to  these  tombstones  General  Thomas  Nelson  was 
buried ;  but  to  this  day  not  even  a  rough  headstone  marks  the 
spot,  and  no  hillock  is  to  be  seen  ;  and  when  one  or  two  aged  mem- 
bers of  the  family  are  gone,  there  will  be  none  left  to  point  out  the 
place,  when  the  gratitude  of  his  country,  or  the  filial  piety  of  his 
descendants,  which  has  been  too  long  waiting  the  action  of  the 
former,  desires  to  raise  some  humble  monument  to  the  most  gene- 
rous and  self-sacrificing  of  American  patriots.* 

The  only  other  inscriptions  which  could  be  deciphered  were 
those  of  Abraham  Archer,  who  died  in  1752,  aged  sixty-two;  of 


*An  American  writer,  after  describing  the  tombs  of  old  Thomas  Nelson  and 
his  son,  President  William  Nelson,  says  that  General  Thomas  Nelson  was  buried  in 
a  vault  at  the  end  of  a  fragment  of  the  brick  wall  which  surrounds  the  church, 
with  nothing  but  a  rough  stone  lying  among  the  grass  to  mark  the  spot ;  than 
which  nothing  can  be  more  fabulous.  He  was  buried  near  to  his  father  and  grand- 
father. The  spot  has  been  pointed  out  to  me  by  one  of  the  family,  who  is  well 
acquainted  with  it.  Not  more  than  two  or  three  others  survive  who  could  now, 
with  certainty,  from  personal  knowledge  designate  the  exact  place. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  215 

Susannah  Reignolds,  daughter  of  William  Rojers,  who  died  in 
1768,  aged  sixty ;  and  of  Jane  Frank,  the  daughter  of  Mr.  William 
Routh,  of  Kisklington,  in  Yorkshire.  She  died  on  her  passage 
at  sea,  April  26,  and  was  interred  May  28,  1753,  aged  twenty- 
eight  years.  She  was  doubtless  the  wife  of  that  pious  man,  Mr. 
Frank,  of  whom  we  have  written  as  the  friend  and  correspondent 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Shield  and  others  in  York  and  Williamsburg. 


I 

216  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS.  AND 


ARTICLE  XVIL 

York-Hampton  Parish. — No.  2. 

IN  connection  with  York-Hampton  parish  and  its  minister,  the 
Rev.  John  Camm,  there  is  a  subject  which  I  shall  now  consider, 
deeming  this  the  most  suitable  occasion,  as  the  vestry  was  equally 
concerned  in  it  with  any  other  in  the  diocese,  and  the  minister 
took  a  more  active  part  than  any  other  of  the  clergy.  I  allude  to 
the  celebrated  contest  between  the  clergy  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  Council,  Burgesses,  and  some  of  the  vestries  on  the  other,  con- 
cerning the  salaries  of  the  former,  in  the  year  1758.  The  act  of 
Assembly  which  produced  the  contest,  and  convulsed  both  Church 
and  State,  was  called  the  Option  Law  or  Two-penny  Act,  because 
the  people  were  allowed  the  option  of  paying  as  usual  so  much 
tobacco,  or  about  twopence  per  pound  instead  of  it.  It  was  oc- 
casioned by  the  apprehension  of  a  very  short  crop  of  tobacco,  by 
the  failure  of  plants  in  the  spring  in  some  parts  of  the  State. 
The  failure  was  very  great,  though  not  to  the  extent  apprehended. 
It  was,  however,  so  great  as,  with  other  circumstances,  to  raise 
the  price  from  sixteen  shillings  and  fourpence — the  supposed 
average  price  of  the  clergy's  tobacco — to  fifty  and  sixty  shillings. 
In  anticipation  of  the  difficulty  which  many  might  find  in  dis- 
charging their  debts  to  the  clergy  and  others  in  tobacco,  according 
to  law  or  contract,  the  Assembly  ordained  that  the  debts  due  in 
tobacco  to  the  clergy  and  to  certain  officers  of  Government, — who 
were  but  few  at  that  time, — and  from  tenants  to  their  landlords, 
or  planters  to  merchants,  &c.,  might  be  discharged  by  the  pay- 
ment of  twopence  a  pound  in  paper  currency,  which  was  only 
good  in  the  Colony.  In  order  to  understand  the  subject  aright,  it 
is  necessary  to  recur  to  some  previous  acts  of  the  Assembly  on 
the  subject  of  salaries. 

For  a  long  time  the  salary  of  a  minister  had  been  settled  at 
sixteen  thousand-weight  of  tobacco  per  annum ;  and  in  the  year 
1748  the  Assembly  passed  a  new  act,  confirming  this,  and  giving 
to  the  vestries  certain  privileges  hitherto  claimed  by  the  Crown, 
the  Governors,  and  clergy,  but  in  fact  exercised  by  the  vestries, 
as  has  before  been  stated.  Though  the  clergy  did  not  like  some 


FAMILIES   OP  VIRGINIA.  217 

things  in  it,  yet,  unable  to  help  themselves,  they  submitted,  and 
the  royal  assent  was  given.  According  to  a  standing  law  of  Eng- 
land, no  act  of  the  Colonial  Legislature  could  contradict  a  previous 
act  which  had  received  the  royal  sanction,  without  suspending  its 
execution  until  the  King's  pleasure  could  be  known.  The  Assem- 
bly, finding  it  desirable  to  have  the  privilege  of  passing  some  acts 
and  carrying  them  into  execution  sooner  than  the  distance  from 
England  .and  the  time  then  required  for  communication  with  the 
Government  would  allow,  petitioned  the  King  in  the  year  1751  or 
1752  for  leave  to  make  some  exceptions ;  but  the  petition  was  posi- 
tively refused.  Nevertheless,  it  began  to  act  in  a  small  way  at 
first,  on  the  principle  thus  refused.  In  the  year  1753  it  passed  an 
act  allowing  the  vestries  of  Frederick  and  Augusta  to  pay  the 
salaries  of  their  ministers  in  money  instead  of  tobacco,  as  but  little 
of  the  latter  was  raised  in  the  valley, — taking  care,  however,  to 
allow  them  handsome  salaries,  so  that  no  complaint  was  made.  In 
the  year  1754  the  same  was  done  in  Norfolk  and  Princess  Anne 
parishes  without  much  notice  or  complaint.  But  in  the  year  1755, 
when  there  was  the  threatening  of  a  very  small  crop  of  tobacco 
throughout  the  country,  the  Assembly  proceeded  to  a  bolder  step, 
and  passed  a  law  allowing  all  who  pleased  to  pay  either  in  tobacco 
or  money  as  suited  best.  The  law  was  carried  by  only  one  vote*. 
A  general  feeling  of  uneasiness  now  seized  upon  the  clergy,  and 
they  were  preparing  to  make  opposition.  Letters  and  memorials 
were  sent  to  England,  and  meetings  of  the  clergy  held ;  but  as  the 
season  became  more  propitious  and  the  crop  turned  out  nearly  as 
good  as  usual,  and  the  tobacco  would  generally  be  paid,  no  active 
measures  were  taken,  though  some  even  then  threatened  to  resort 
to  law.  In  the  year  1758  a  great  failure  was  apprehended,  and 
the  Assembly  now  passed  the  obnoxious  law  of  which  we  are  speak- 
ing. Though  opposed  by  some  of  the  Burgesses  and  the  Council 
as  illegal  and  unjust,  it  was  carried.  The  clergy  who  were  nearest 
to  Williamsburg  assembled  and  asked  to  be  admitted  to  the  bar  of 
the  House,  to  be  heard  in  opposition  to  the  measure  before  it 
passed,  but  were  refused.  Governor  Dinwiddie  had  been  urged  to 
veto  the  act  of  1755,  but  declined,  though  saying  it  was  unjust  and 
illegal,  asking,  "  What  can  I  do  ?  If  I  refuse,  I  shall  have  the  peo- 
ple on  my  back."  Lieutenant-Governor  Fauquier,  now  in  office, 
when  applied  to  for  the  same  purpose,  also  refused,  saying,  "  Whether 
it  be  just  or  unjust,  contradictory  to  the  King's  instructions  or  not, 
is  not  the  question.  The  question  is,  What  will  please  the  people  ?" 
He  took  part  with  the  Assembly ;  and  the  Assembly,  which  had 


218  OLD   CHUBCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

voted  Dinwiddie  only  «£500,  (it  was  the  custom  to  make  a  present 
to  every  new  Governor,)  voted  him,  though  a  more  obnoxious  man 
than  even  Dinwiddie,  .£1000.  The  clergy  were  now  convened, 
and  made  an  address  to  the  Crown,  through  the  Lord-Commissioner 
of  Trade  for  the  Plantation,  pleading  their  grievances.  The  Bishop 
of  London,  being  called  upon  for  his  opinion  by  the  Commissioners, 
was  decided  and  strong  in  favour  of  the  clergy.  The  Rev.  Mr. 
Camm  was  sent  over  by  the  clergy  to  plead  their  cause,  and  per- 
sons were  employed  by  the  Assembly  on  their  part.  The  Rev. 
Mr.  Camm  remained  eighteen  months  in  England  in  the  prosecution 
of  the  case.  To  oppose  the  Colonies  in  any  thing  where  taxation  or 
prerogative  was  concerned  was  now  becoming  a  critical  matter. 
The  Stamp  Act  had  just  been  repealed.  Notwithstanding  this,  the 
Commissioners  of  Trade  unanimously  declared  the  law  to  be  not 
only  unjust,  but  null  and  void,  and  recommended  the  King  to  dis- 
allow it  and  require  its  repeal,  which  he  accordingly  did.  As  to 
the  requiring  the  tobacco  to  be  paid,  they  told  Mr.  Camm  that  the 
courts  in  America  must  do  this,  and  certainly  would  do  it,  the  case 
being  so  plain ;  that  if  it  should  be  otherwise,  and  an  appeal  was 
taken  to  the  Privy  Council  in  England,  they  would  certainly  be 
righted.  On  this,  Mr.  Camm  immediately  wrote  to  his  agent  in 
America  to  institute  a  suit  against  his  vestry  for  the  tobacco,  and 
carry  it  before  the  Governor  and  Council,  which  was  the  Supreme 
Court  in  Virginia.  The  vestry  declined  standing  the  suit  until 
the  Assembly  passed  an  act  to  support  all  vestries  in  their  defence. 
The  trial  being  had,  it  appears  that  Messrs.  Randolph,  Corbin, 
Carter,  and  Lee  were  in  favour  of  Mr.  Camm's  claim,  and  Messrs. 
Byrd,  Taylor,  Thornton,  Burwell,  and  Blair  against  it.  The  two 
Mr.  Nelsons,  of  York,  the  President  and  Secretary,  declined  sit- 
ting, as  they  were  a  party  concerned,  being  vestrymen  of  Mr. 
Camm's  parish.  It  was  understood  that  they  were  in  favour  of  the 
claim  of  the  clergy,  one  of  them  having  told  the  Rev.  Mr.  War- 
rington  that  he  regarded  the  law  as  most  unjust,  and  had  Mr. 
Warrington's  case  been  permitted,  as  was  attempted  afterward, 
to  come  up  for  trial,  they  would  have  been  on  the  court,  and  have 
made  a  majority  of  one  in  favour  of  the  clergy,  whereas,  in  the  case 
of  Mr.  Camm,  a  majority  of  one  was  in  favour  of  the  law.  There 
was  now  no  other  resort  for  Mr.  Camm  but  to  the  English  Court 
of  Appeals ;  and  he  was  not  the  man  to  give  up  a  contest  until  he 
could  contend  no  more,  especially  as  he  was  fighting  not  only  his 
own  battle,  but  that  of  all  the  clergy  of  Virginia.  He  accordingly 
sent  his  case  to  the  Privy  Council,  expecting  that  the  promises 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  219 

made  to  Mm  while  in  England  would  be  fulfilled,  but  was  disap- 
pointed. After  various  delays,  the  case  was  dismissed,  on  the 
pretence  of  some  informality,  the  blame  being  chiefly  laid  at  the 
door  of  Lord  Northington.  Inasmuch  as  the  Lord-Commissioners 
of  Trade,  Privy  Council,  and  King  had  all  so  positively  and  unani- 
mously declared  the  law  null  and  void,  and  the  Governor  of  Vir- 
ginia had  proclaimed  its  repeal  by  the  order  of  the  King,  we  must 
seek  the  cause  of  this  dismissal  in  some  other  difficulty  than  an  in- 
formality. It  was  doubtless  to  be  found  in  the  desire  to  avoid  at 
this  time  a  collision  with  the  Virginia  Assembly ;  and  the  clergy 
were  deserted.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Warrington,  of  Hampton,  who  was 
as  brave  and  determined  in  the  Church  as  his  grandson  Commodore 
Warrington  afterward  in  the  navy,  had  his  case  before  the  Council 
of  Virginia,  and,  if  unsuccessful,  was  prepared  to  try  whether  the 
Privy  Council  would,  when  the  alleged  informality  was  avoided, 
enter  upon  the  cause ;  but  his  suit  was  never  permitted  to  be  tried 
here,  the  court  in  Virginia  professing  to  await  the  decision  of  the 
court  in  England,  and  thus  ended  the  matter.  Mr.  Warrington 
brought  suit  for  his  full  salary  in  the  Court  of  Elizabeth  City,  and 
the  jury  brought  in  a  special  verdict  for  some  damages,  But  still 
declared  the  law  valid  in  opposition  to  the  King.  The  Rev.  Alex- 
ander White,  of  King  William,  also  brought  suit.  The  court  de- 
clined instructing  the  jurors  as  to  the  law,  and  left  it  entirely  with 
them,  who  brought  in  some  trivial  damages.  But  the  instance  of 
suit  which  caused  most  interest  at  the  time,  and  has  continued  most 
to  sparkle  on  the  page  of  history,  was  that  of  the  Rev.  James 
Maury.  It  was  tried  in  Hanover  county,  though  he  was  in  an 
adjoining  parish.  The  high  character  of  Mr.  Maury  entitles  any 
account  he  may  have  given  of  the  transaction  to  great  confidence. 
We  have  it  in  a  printed  letter  to  Mr.  Camm  in  the  year  1763.  In 
the  November  Court  of  that  year,  he  says,  the  court  decided  in  his 
favour  that  it  was  no  law,  and  at  the  next  court  a  select  jury  was 
to  decide  upon  the  damages.  It  was  indeed,  he  says,  a  select  jury, 
three  or  four  being  what  were  called  New  Lights,  who  were  dis- 
senters from  and  enemies  to  the  Church,  and  the  others  picked  up 
on  the  occasion,  and  most  unfit  to  decide  such  a  cause. 

It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Patrick  Henry,  then  young  in  the 
practice,  made  his  first  successful  effort.  It  was  truly  an  ad  cap- 
tandum  speech,  being  suited  to  the  times  and  addressed  to  the 
passions  and  interests  of  the  people.  He  praised  the  law  as  salu- 
tary,— said  that  a  king,  by  disallowing  such  a  law,  became  a  tyrant 
instead  of  the  father  of  the  people.  He  spoke  in  such  a  manner 


> 

220  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

that  several  persons  in  tfte  crowd  cried  out,  "  Treason  !"  The  cause 
being  pleaded  on  both  sides,  by  Mr.  Lyons  for  Mr.  Maury,  by  Mr. 
Henry  for  the  vestry  or  collector,  and  it  being  intimated  to  the 
jury  that,  though  they  must  find  for  the  plaintiffs,  yet  one  penny 
damages  would  suffice,  in  five  minutes  the  jury  brought  in  that 
verdict.  Mr.  Lyons  moved  that  the  jury  should  be  sent  back 
again,  as  having  found  against  the  evidence ;  but  this  was  refused : 
then  that  certain  evidence  should  be  recorded,  which  also  was  re- 
fused :  and,  lastly,  that  an  appeal  should  be  allowed,  which  shared 
the  same  fate.*  It  is  due  to  Mr.  Henry  to  state  that  he  apolo- 
gized to  Mr.  Maury  for  some  improper  reflection  made  as  to  him- 
self, and  pleaded,  as  an  excuse  for  his  course,  that  he  was  a  young 
lawyer,  a  candidate  for  practice  and  reputation,  and  therefore  must 
make  the  best  of  his  cause.  It  is  probable,  also,  that  at  this  time 
Mr.  Henry  may  have  been  a  little  alienated  from  the  Church  of 
his  father  and  relatives,  f  The  He  vs.  Mr.  Davies  and  Mr.  Waddell 
(the  old  blind  preacher  of  whom  Mr.  Wirt  speaks)  were  then  in 
their  height  of  zeal  and  eminence,  and  Mr.  Henry  often  attended 
their  services  and  admired  them  much.  Disaffection  to  the  Church 
was  also  getting  quite  strong  in  that  region.  Mr.  Henry  may  for 
a  time  have  sympathized  in  their  religious  views,  though  I  have  no 
testimony  to  this  effect.  The  following  extract  of  a  letter  of  Mr. 
Roger  Atkinson,  of  Mannsfield,  near  Petersburg,  an  old  vestry- 
man and  staunch  friend  of  the  Church  in  that  place,  to  his  bro- 
ther-in-law, Mr.  Samuel  Pleasants,  may  throw  some  light  on  this 
point.  He  is  drawing  the  portraits  of  the  members  sent  to  the 
first  Congress  from  Virginia.  Of  Mr.  Henry  he  says,  "  He  is  a 
real  half-Quaker, — your  brother's  man, — moderate  and  mild,  and 
in  religious  matters  a  saint ;  but  the  very  d — 1  in  politics, — a  son 
of  thunder.  He  will  shake  the  Senate.  Some  years  ago  he  had 

*  Mr.  Wirt,  in  his  Life  of  Patrick  Henry,  while  under  the  strongest  temptation  to 
place  any  thing  he  did  or  said  in  the  most  favourable  light,  yet  hesitates  not  to 
acknowledge  that  the  case  was  a  bad  one,  and  the  law  indefensible.  Mr.  Wirt,  after 
reading  all  that  was  written  on  both  sides  of  the  case,  says,  "It  seems  impossible 
to  deny  at  this  day  that  the  clergy  had  much  the  best  of  the  argument."  And 
again,  that  the  court  which  had  decided  the  principle  of  law  in  favour  of  the 
clergy,  "very  much  to  their  credit,  breasted  the  popular  current."  He  also  informs 
us  that  Mr.  John  Lewis,  counsel  for  the  people,  was  so  satisfied  that  the  case  was  a 
desperate  one  after  the  decision  of  the  court,  that  he  gave  up  the  cause,  saying  to 
his  clients  that  he  could  do  them  no  service.  Then  it  was  that  Mr.  Henry  was  called 
in,  who  took  care  to  say  nothing  about  the  law  of  the  case. 

f  He  had  an  uncle  in  the  Episcopal  ministry,  Patrick  Henry,  who  lived  near  the 
place  of  trial,  and  would  have  been  present,  but  at  the  request  of  his  nephew  stayed 
away. 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  221 

liked  to  have  talked  treason  into  the  House."*  Whatever  may 
have  been  the  feelings  of  Mr.  Henry  as  to  the  Episcopal  Church 
at  that  time,  it  is  very  certain  that  in  after-life  he  gave  full  proof 
that  he  was  no  enemy  to  it,  and  had  no  desire  to  deprive  it  of  any 
just  rights.  At  a  time  when  such  numbers  were  deserting  it, 
when  politicians  were  raising  themselves  on  its  ruins,  when  the 
worn-out  glebes,  and  decayed  parsonages,  and  sacred  vessels  were 
thought  to  be  too  much  to  be  left  in  the  hands  of  the  few  Epis- 
copal families  which  were  remaining,  Mr.  Henry  stood  up  in  opposi- 
tion to  every  attempt  at  their  alienation,  with  the  same  boldness 
and  the  same  success  as  when  he  denounced  British  oppression ; 
nor  did  the  advocates  of  the  last  act  by  which  she  was  prostrated 
in  the  dust  succeed  in  their  endeavour  until  he  had  left  the  hall  of 
legislation. f  There  may  be  some  difficulty  in  reconciling  his  oppo- 
sition to  this  measure  with  his  advocacy  of  that  concerning  which 
we  have  been  writing,  but  there  may  have  seemed  to  be  one  to  him, 
and  may  have  been  a  real  one.  At  any  rate,  his  attachment  to  the 
Church  of  his  fathers  is  clearly  established.  There  are  abundant 
proofs  that  it  continued  through  life,  and  that  his  descendants  have 


*  Mr.  Atkinson  was  the  grandfather  of  Bishop  Atkinson.  The  remainder  of  this 
letter  is  so  faithfully  and  happily  descriptive  of  the  other  members  of  the  delega- 
tion, that  I  make  no  apology  for  introducing  it.  Of  Peyton  Randolph  he  says, 
u  A  venerable  man,  whom  I  well  know  and  love  ;  an  honest  man  ;  has  knowledge, 
temper,  experience,  judgment, — above  all,  integrity;  a  true  Roman  spirit.  He,  I 
find,  is  chairman.  The  choice  will  do  honour  to  the  judges,  and  the  chairman  will 
do  honour  to  the  choice."  Of  Richard  Henry  Lee  he  says,  "  I  think  I  know  the 
man,  and  I  like  him :  need  I  say  more  ?  He  was  the  second  choice,  and  he  was  my 
second  choice."  Of  George  Washington  he  says,  "He  is  a  soldier, — a  warrior;  he 
is  a  modest  man;  sensible;  speaks  little;  in  action  cool,  like  a  Bishop  at  his 
prayers."  Of  Colonel  Bland  he  says,  "A  wary,  old,  experienced  veteran  at  the  bar 
and  in  the  Senate ;  has  something  of  the  look  of  old  musty  parchments,  which  he 
handleth  and  studieth  much.  He  formerly  wrote  a  treatise  against  the  Quakers  on 
water-baptism."  Of  Benjamin  Harrison  he  says,  "He  is  your  neighbour,  and 
brother-in-law  to  the  speaker,  (Peyton  Randolph:)  I  need  not  describe  him."  Of 
Mr.  Pendleton  he  says,  "  The  last  and  best,  though  all  good.  The  last  shall  be 
first,  says  the  Scripture.  He  is  an  humble  and  religious  man,  and  must  be  exalted. 
He  is  a  smooth-tongued  speaker,  and,  though  not  so  old,  may  be  compared  to  old 
Nestor,— 

K  ( Experienced  Nestor,  in  persuasion  skill'd, 
Words  sweet  as  honey  from  his  lips  distill'd.' " 

f  I  have  often  in  my  early  days  heard  the  delegate  from  Frederick  county  (Mr. 
Matthew  Page)  speak  of  the  eloquence  of  Mr.  Henry  while  defending  the  Church 
against  this  assault,  and  refer  to  the  fact  that  his  opponents  could  never  succeed 
until  he  was  out  of  the  way.  This  circumstance  seemed  to  have  been  well  known, 
for  Bishop  White  has  introduced  it  into  his  Memoirs  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  of  the  United  States. 


I 

222  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

inherited  it.  And  now*  should  it  be  asked  why  the  clergy  alone 
of  all  who  were  affected  by  this  law  should  have  made  such  oppo- 
sition, when  it  was  professedly  designed  to  relieve  the  poor,  in  a 
year  of  unparalleled  scarcity,  I  will  endeavour  to  answer  the 
question  out  of  the  mouths  of  the  clergy  themselves  at  the  time. 
Their  reasons  and  complaints  were  sent  in  lengthy  letters — memo- 
rials from  themselves  and  the  Commissaries  Dawson  and  Robinson 
— to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  Bishop  of  London,  and 
the  Privy  Council ;  also  in  a  letter  from  the  Bishop  of  London  to 
the  Lord-Commissioners  of  Trade,  and  in  an  opinion  of  some  of 
the  first  jurists  in  England,  among  them  Lord  Cambden.  These 
have  been  preserved  in  the  archives  of  Lambeth  and  Fulham.  I 
have  a  copy  of  them  before  me,  covering  more  than  one  hundred 
and  fifty  folio  pages  of  manuscript.  I  have  carefully  examined 
the  same,  as  well  as  whatever  on  the  other  side  I  could  obtain,  and 
will  briefly  state  the  substance  of  the  clergy's  plea.  In  the  first 
place,  it  is  declared  to  be  untrue  that  no  complaints  came  from 
other  sources.  In  the  year  1755,  the  same  measure  was  carried 
by  only  one  vote,  such  was  the  opposition  to  it.  In  the  year  1758, 
some  of  the  ablest  and  best  men  of  the  Assembly  and  the  State 
were  opposed  to  it.  Those  who  were  to  be  sufferers  by  it  among 
the  officers  of  Government  were  afraid  to  complain,  as  they  might 
lose  office.  But  the  chief  reason  why  many  others  did  not  com- 
plain more  and  longer  was,  that  most  of  them  were  actually  paid 
their  full  dues  in  tobacco.  When  the  King  disallowed  the  law  at 
the  petition  of  the  clergy,  and  the  Legislature  was  obliged  to 
encourage  the  vestries  to  resent  by  promising  to  bear  the  expenses 
of  the  suit,  but  said  nothing  about  any  other  suits,  nearly  all  the 
other  debtors,  believing  their  cause  to  be  a  hopeless  one,  would  not 
incur  the  expenses  of  a  suit,  but  paid  their  dues  as  they  stood 
before  the  law  was  passed.  Thus  the  clergy  alone  were  the  suffer- 
ers, while  the  instruments  of  doing  justice  to  others.  Secondly, 
they  maintained  that  theirs  was  a  peculiar  case,  and  might  have 
been  exempted  from  the  operation  of  law,  even  if  some  such 
method  could  have  been  legally  adopted  with  others.  They,  by 
their  profession,  were  precluded  from  those  various  modes  of 
acquiring  property  by  which  others  might  more  easily  bear  a  loss. 
Their  salaries  too  were  generally  small, — so  small  that  a  great 
number  of  them  could  not  marry, — that  respectable  families  would 
not  admit  them  into  that  relationship.  In  ordinary  years  most  of 
them,  it  was  declared,  did  not  receive  more  than  eighty  pounds, — 
sometimes  much  less ;  and,  when  tobacco  was  indifferent,  not  more 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  223 

| 

than  forty  or  fifty  pounds,  while  cases  occurred  of  still  less.  One 
great  grievance  was,  that  their  salaries  were  not  paid  until  eighteen 
months  after  their  year's  labour  begun,  the  levy  being  never  or- 
dered until  twelve  months  had  elapsed,  and  that  not  demandable 
for  six  months  after ;  and,  if  shipped  to  England,  a  still  longer 
delay ;  and,  if  they  did  not  send  it  to  England  and  get  their  goods 
there,  must  sell  it  here  and  buy  indifferent  articles  at  an  advance 
of  from  twenty-five  to  fifty  per  cent.  The  consequence  of  this 
was,  that  the  clergy  were  often  deeply  in  debt  long  before  their 
salaries  were  paid.  They  thought  it  hard,  therefore,  that  when, 
in  the  course  of  Providence,  an  increase  of  funds  occurred  for  one 
year,  by  which  they  might  be  set  free  from  debt  or  be  enabled  to 
buy  a  few  books,  this  should  be  prevented  by  such  an  act.  They 
had  often  before,  by  bad  seasons  injuring  the  tobacco,  or  by  an 
abundant  crop  reducing  the  price,  suffered  a  great  diminution  of 
salary,  but  the  Assembly  had  never  regarded  this  their  loss  and 
sought  to  supply  it  in  any  other  way,  and  it  was  not  fair  now  to 
reduce  it  by  an  arbitrary,  unjust,  and  unconstitutional  act.  More- 
over, they  said  it  was  an  ex  post  facto  or  retrospective  law,  passed 
after  they  had  earned  their  salary  by  a  year's  labour.  It  was  thus 
their  own  property,  though  not  in  their  hands,  as  it  ought  to  have 
been.  They  also  declared  that,  considering  the  high  price  at  which 
tobacco  sold  that  year,  it  was  a  prosperous  one.  The  quantity  of 
tobacco  shipped  was  estimated  at  thirty-five  thousand  hogsheads, 
instead  of  fifty  thousand,  the  average  crop ;  that,  selling  at  fifty 
shillings  a  hundred  instead  of  sixteen  and  eightpence,  every  man 
got  two-thirds  more  than  usual  for  his  tobacco,  and  therefore  could 
better  afford  to  pay  than  in  other  years,  except  in  such  places  as 
failed  very  greatly.  The  clergy  thus  lost  two-thirds  of  their  just 
expectations  and  lawful  rights.  They  said  the  history  of  Virginia 
proved  that  a  small  crop  of  tobacco  was  best  for  the  Colony,  that 
the  Legislature  was  often  endeavouring  to  stint  the  crop  of  tobacco 
by  preventing  the  culture  of  so  much,  and  in  former  days  had 
even  destroyed  some  which  was  already  made,  and  that  now,  when 
Providence  had  stinted  the  crop,  it  was  hard  that  the  clergy  should 
be  the  chief,  indeed  only,  sufferers.  They  most  positively  denied 
that  the  welfare  of  the  poor  was  the  object  or  the  effect  of  the  law, 
and  said  that  the  rich  planters  were  the  chief  gainers  by  it, — that 
they  had  few  tenants  to  pay  them  in  money  instead  of  tobacco, 
but  cultivated  their  lands  with  their  own  servants,  and  now  paid 
the  clergy  and  others  to  whom  they  were  indebted  at  one-third  of 
the  price  at  which  they  sold  their  tobacco.  They  charged  the 


224  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

• 

Legislature  with  taking  from  them  one  penny  for  the  poor  and  a 
shilling  for  the  rich,  and  maintained  that  some  other  method  might 
have  been  adopted  for  the  relief  of  real  sufferers  far  more  just  and 
equal.  Comparing  their  tithes  with  those  of  Israel  of  old,  they 
computed  their  portion  of  the  tobacco  on  an  average  to  be  less 
than  one-fiftieth,  and  even  in  that  year  less  than  a  twentieth,  and 
said  that  nothing  whatever  of  any  other  crops  was  taxed,  and 
that  all  other  crops  that  year  were  uncommonly  abundant.  If, 
therefore,  the  Church  was  worth  supporting,  they  maintained  that 
it  ought  to  be  honourably  done.  They  affirmed  that  the  effect  of 
this  unjust  proceeding  must  be  to  deter  respectable  clergymen 
from  coming  into  the  Colony,  or  young  men  of  education  and 
respectability  here  from  entering  the  ministry.  They  declared 
that  such  an  effect  had  already  been  produced ;  that  some  of  the 
best  men  had  already  left  the  Colony,  and  others  were  preparing 
to  follow.  There  was,  with  one  exception,  (and  he  a  young,  con- 
ceited, and  unworthy  man,)  entire  unanimity  among  the  clergy, 
while  there  was  great  diversity  of  sentiment  among  the  laity,  and 
certainly  among  the  opponents  of  the  measure  there  were  many  of 
the  ablest  and  best  men  of  Virginia.  The  clergy,  indeed,  boasted 
that  what  their  advocates  wanted  in  numbers  was  amply  made  up 
in  quality.  As  the  question  came  to  be  weighed  in  the  balances 
of  law  and  equity,  it  was  more  and  more  admitted  to  be 
unconstitutional  and  unfair.  Many  confessed  their  error ;  but  it 
was  too  late  to  retract.  The  clergy  had  committed  the  unpardon- 
able sin  of  appealing  to  the  Crown ;  and,  though  many  of  them 
became  staunch  Revolutionists,  preaching  and  writing  in  behalf  of 
the  war,  and  some  girding  on  their  swords,  the  evil  could  not  be 
repaired.  Dissenters  were  rapidly  gaming  ground.  They  took 
possession  of  the  vacant  pulpits  and  drew  off  numbers  from  the 
Church,  and  no  future  Assembly  could  have  been  gotten  to  repair 
the  wrong.  Such  was  the  permissive  providence  of  God,  and 
doubtless  for  wisest  reasons.  Had  the  one  hundred  clergy  of  Vir- 
ginia, or  a  large  portion  of  them,  been  true  men  of  God,  not  only 
leading  holy  lives,  laboriously  discharging  all  their  duties,  under- 
standing by  their  own  heartfelt  experience,  and  zealously  preach- 
ing the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  as  set  forth  by  the  Reformers  in 
our  standards,  God  would  not  have  permitted  that  unjust  act  on 
the  part  of  the  Legislature  of  Virginia.  There  were  doubtless 
many  worthy  men  among  them,  and  some  few  who  understood, 
felt,  and  preached  the  Gospel ;  but,  if  Mr.  Jarratt's  testimony  is 
to  be  received,  God  could  not  have  been  among  them  to  bless 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  225 

1 

them."  After  his  ordination  in  England  and  settlement  in  Virginia, 
he  attended  one  of  the  later  convocations  at  Williamsburg,  but 
was  so  disgusted  at  the  manner  in  which  he  heard  some  of  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Gospel  and  the  Church  spoken  of,  that  he  resolved  to 
attend  no  more  of  them.  I  doubt  not  there  were  many  sober, 
good-natured  men  among  the  clergy,  but  they  wanted  weight  of 
character,  and  were  unfit  for  the  ministry.  There  were  many  who 
preached  a  dry  orthodoxy  and  frigid  morality ;  but  that  was  not 
enough.  The  Dissenters  came  and  gave  hungry  souls  something 
else,  though  often  mixed  with  what  was  not  the  Gospel. 

Still,  all  this  did  not  justify  the  act  of  which  we  have  been  speak- 
ing, which  must  ever  be  regarded  as  a  deep  stain  on  the  Legislature 
of  that  day.  Necessity,  indeed,  has  no  law,  and  there  are  times 
when  laws  must  be  violated  in  order  to  prevent  a  greater  evil. 
Government  has  a  right  to  interfere  with  the  property  of  individuals, 
when  they  greatly  abuse  it  to  the  injury  of  the  public.  But  no 
such  necessity  existed.  If  tobacco  was  scarce,  the  price  was  very 
high,  and  all  the  necessaries  of  life  abounded.  The  clergy,  whether 
deficient  in  right  views  of  religion  or  not,  performed  a  large  amount 
of  bodily  exercise  and  went  through  their  required  duties,  and 
therefore  had  a  right  to  what  was  secured  to  them  by  law.  There 
was  the  same  scarcity  in  Maryland,  where  the  salaries  were  larger  ; 
and  yet  there  was  no  such  commutation  enjoined  there.  We  again 
therefore  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  clergy  were  sinking  in 
public  estimation,  the  dissenters  from  and  enemies  to  the  Church 
were  increasing,  the  Revolutionary  spirit,  the  unwillingness  to  be 
interfered  with  by  the  authorities  of  England,  was  daily  strength- 
ening, and  all  these  combined  to  permit  the  passage  of  the  law 
and  to  forbid  the  reparation  of  the  wrong  that  was  done.  I  add 
that  in  the  College  of  William  and  Mary  the  same  contest  was 
going  on.  The  Visitors  and  the  Faculty  were  at  variance, — the 
former  claiming  the  right  to  dismiss  the  professors  at  pleasure,  the 
latter  affirming  that,  according  to  the  charter  of  the  College,  a 
controlling  power  was  in  the  authorities  abroad  ;  but  the  former,  as 
might  be  expected,  prevailed.  The  time  for  revolution  and  inde- 
pendence was  fully  come,  and  there  was  no  resisting  it.  President 
Camm,  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  being  summoned  before  the 
Visitors  to  answer  some  complainfe,  denied  their  authority,  and, 
refusing  to  attend,  was  displaced,  and  Mr.  Madison,  of  more  re- 
publican spirit,  was  chosen  in  his  room. 

Having  closed  the  consideration  of  a  question  which  for  some 
years  violently  agitated  the  Church  and  Colony  of  Virginia,  and 

15 


226  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

which  on  one  side  was  mainly  defended  by  the  minister  of  York- 
Hampton  parish,  we  take  our  leave  of  poor  old  York,  but  not  with- 
out a  word  or  two  as  to  its  past,  its  present,  and  its  future,  so 
far  as  man  may  look  into  the  future  of  a  dilapidated  town  or 
village.  Little  York  was  never  much  more  than  a  village ;  although 
merchants  from  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia — at  that  time  little 
more  than  villages — once  got  goods  from  its  warehouses.  How 
many  inhabitants  it  had, when  at  its  height,  cannot  be  said.  Be- 
sides tradesmen  and  artificers  arid  shopkeepers,  of  whom  we  are 
unable  to  get  any  information,  we  learn  that  before  and  for  some 
time  after  the  Revolution  there  was  one  of  the  most  delightful  socie- 
ties anywhere  to  be  found,  consisting  of  Amblers,  Archers,  Gib- 
bons, Jamiesons,  Macawleys,  Nicolsons,  Griffins,  Nelsons,  Diggeses, 
Smiths,  Popes,  Shields,  Fouchees,  &c.  All  these,  with  the  other  fami- 
lies of  the  place,  and  from  the  country  around,  filled  the  Episcopal 
Church  in  York,  and  formed  a  happy,  undivided  society.  During 
the  war,  all  fled  who  could :  some  did  not  return,  or  only  returned 
to  bid  adieu  to  its  ruins.  From  time  to  time,  others  removed, 
until  it  was  left  almost  desolate,  and  the  country  around  seemed 
likely  to  share  the  same  fate.  Agriculture  grew  worse  and  worse. 
Lands  were  almost  given  away.  But  within  the  last  few  years  a 
favourable  change  has  seemed  likely  to  take  place,  in  sympathy 
with  the  improvement  of  all  Lower  Virginia.  A  few  zealous 
females,  in  the  hope  and  anticipation  of  it,  by  the  most  indefatigable 
diligence,  rebuilt  the  old  church,  which  had  been  destroyed  by  fire, 
and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Withers,  while  Chaplain  to  the  Lunatic  Asylum 
in  Williamsburg,  rendered  acceptable  services  to  the  few  remaining 
inhabitants  of  York.  It  has  been  hoped  that  the  railroad,  intended 
to  connect  Richmond  with  Baltimore  by  York  River,  would  have 
found  a  terminus  here,  and  thus  insured  a  revival  of  the  town.  In 
this  its  friends  have  been  also  disappointed,  that  terminus  being 
established  higher  up.  Still,  hopes  are  entertained  of  its  more 
gradual  improvement  by  the  increased  commerce  floating  on  the 
bosom  of  York  River,  and  from  the  rise  in  lands  all  around.  The 
demand  for  houses  is  increasing,  and,  if  the  present  owner  of  nearly 
all  York  and  its  vicinity  was  disposed  to  sell,  lots  and  small  farms 
would  be  purchased  and  settled.  There  is  one  interesting  and 
venerable  establishment  in  the  vicinity  of  York  which  deserves 
a  notice.  It  is  called  Temple  Farm.  It  was  the  country-resi- 
dence of  Governor  Spottswood  in  the  beginning  of  the  last  cen- 
tury. It  was  called  Temple  Farm  because  of  a  house  in  its  gar- 
den, built  by  the  Governor  as  a  cemetery.  It  was  in  the  mansion- 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  227 

house  on  this  farm  that  Lord  Cornwallis  met  Washington  and 
signed  the  articles  of  capitulation.  One  of  our  Virginia  antiqua- 
ries, (Mr.  Caruthers,)  in  a  semi-fictitious  historical  novel,  after 
the  manner  of  Walter  Scott,  has  made  this  place  a  chief  scene  and 
Governor  Spottswood  the  chief  hero.  But,  it  being  so  long  since 
the  date  of  the  events  described,  many  of  its  readers  perhaps 
doubt  whether  the  house  was  built  by  Governor  Spottswood,  or 
whether  he  ever  lived  there.  Having  myself  had  an  interest,  by 
marriage,  in  the  house  and  farm,  and  knowing  that  there  was  much 
of  the  real  in  the  traditionary  accounts  of  it,  but  wishing  to  obtain 
the  most  reliable  information,  I  addressed  a  letter  to  Doctor  Wil- 
liam Shield,  of  York,  who  once  possessed  it,  and  received  from  him 
the  following  communication  : — 

"YoRKTOWN,  12th  February. 

"  REV.  AND  DEAR  SIR  : — Yours  dated  the  30th  of  January,  asking  for 
some  information  relative  to  Temple  Farm,  near  Yorktown,  which,  ac- 
cording to  history,  was  once  the  residence  of  Governor  Spottswood,  and 
the  house  in  which  Lord  Cornwallis  signed  the  capitulation,  was  received 
a  few  days  ago. 

"I  purchased  the  farm  and  moved  there  in  1834,  at- which  time  the 
walls  of  the  Temple,  from  which  the  place  takes  its  name,  were  several 
feet  high  :  within  them  (after  removing  the  ruins)  I  found  heaps  of  broken 
tombstones,  and  on  putting  the  fragments  together,  to  ascertain,  if  pos- 
sible, the  names  of  some  of  the  persons  who  had  been  buried  there,  I 
succeeded  in  finding  the  name  of  Governor  Spottswood,  showing  that  he 
was  buried  at  Temple  Farm, — a  fact,  perhaps,  not  generally  known.  There 
was  one  tombstone,  however,  entire  and  unbroken,  with  the  following  sin- 
gular inscription  on  it,  and  which,  as  it  may  be  interesting  to  you,  I  send 
verbatim  et  literatim  : — 

'  Major  WILLIAM  GOOCH,  of  this  parish. 
Died  October  29,  1655.' 

'Within  this  tomb  there  doth  interred  lie, 
No  shape,  but  substance,  true  nobility. 
Itself,  though  young  in  years,  just  twenty-nine, 
Yet  graced  with  virtues  moral  and  divine ; 
The  Church  from  him  did  good  participate, 
In  counsel  rare,  fit  to  adorn  a  State.' 

"  The  house  at  Temple  Farm  is  built  of  wood,  and  is  in  rather  a  dilapi- 
dated condition  at  present.  The  original  building  was  very  large,  and 
consisted  of  a  centre  building  with  two  large  wings,  either  one  of  which 
was  as  large  as  the  present  house,  which  in  fact  was  originally  the  centre 
building. 

"  I  gave  for  Temple  Farm,  in  1834,  three  thousand  dollars,  and  sold  it  to 
Mr.  Pettit,  in  1839,  for  seven  thousand  dollars.  Mr.  P.  sold  if  in  1853 
for  eleven  thousand  dollars,  and  the  present  owner  informs  me  that  he 
has  been  offered  fifteen  thousand  dollars.  The  increase  in  the  price  of  our 
lands  here  is  not,  perhaps,  to  be  attributed  so  much  to  the  effect  of  marl, 
as  to  the  great  benefits  anticipated  to  all  this  country  on  York  River  from 
the  completion  of  the  contemplated  railroad  from  Richmond  to  York 


228  OLD    CHUKCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

River,  and  to  the  fact  that  the  steamboats  are  now  regularly  plying  from 
Baltimore  and  Norfolk,  up  York  River,  to  the  Mattaponi  and  Pamunkey 
Rivers.  There  are  in  Old  York  between  twenty-five  and  thirty  houses, 
all  of  which  are  generally  inhabited ;  and  there  is  a  demand  for  more. 

"  With  my  best  wishes  for  your  health  and  happiness,  I  am,  with  the 
highest  respect,  your  friend  and  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SHIELD." 

It  is  well  known  that  Governor  Spottswood  died  at  Annapolis,  in 
the  year  1737,  on  his  way  to  join  the  army  which  he  was  appointed 
to  command,  and  which  was  about  to  engage  in  a  Western  expe- 
dition. His  remains  were  doubtless  carried  by  water  to  York, 
and  deposited  at  this,  his  favourite  residence,  and  in  the  tomb  or 
temple  which  he  had  built,  and  in  which  other  worthies  were  buried. 
It  may  be  said,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  that  there  is  not  on 
all  York  Eiver  a  more  picturesque  spot  than  Temple  Farm.  Its 
capacity  for  improvement  is  also  very  great. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  229 


ARTICLE  XVIII. 

Hampton  Parish,  Elizabeth  City  County,  and  Parishes  in  Warwick. 

UNTIL  the  year  1751  it  was  called  Hampton  parish,  and  on  one 
of  my  lists  after  this ;  but  on  the  vestry-book  beginning  in  1751 
it  is  changed  to  Elizabeth  City.  Elizabeth  City  county  is  one  of 
the  eight  original  shires  of  Virginia  in  the  year  1634.  It  is  situ- 
ated, as  may  be  seen  by  looking  at  the  map,  just  between  the 
mouths  of  James  and  York  Rivers.  Its  compass  is  so  small 
and  so  compact  that  it  does  not  appear  that  there  was  ever  an  at- 
tempt at  building  more  than  one  church  in  it, — that  at  Hampton, 
< — unless  there  may  have  been  one  on  the  Back  River  portion  of  it, 
of  which,  however,  we  have  no  account.  Although  the  parish  and 
county  of  Elizabeth  City  be  comparatively  so  small, — only  eigh- 
teen miles  square, — yet  are  they  on  many  accounts  deeply  interest- 
ing. Old  Point  Comfort,  which  is  a  part  of  this  county,  was,  with 
the  exception  of  Cape  Henry,  most  probably  the  first  place  in 
Virginia  which  was  touched  by  Captain  Smith  in  1607.  In  ex- 
ploring the  county  for  a  suitable  settlement,  they  met  (says  the 
historian  Burk)  with  five  of  the  natives,  who  invited  them  to  their 
town,  Kecoughtan  or  Kichotan,  where  Hampton  now  stands.  It 
was  doubtless  one  of  the  earliest  Indian  towns,  as  it  became  in 
1610  one  of  the  earliest  settlements  of  the  Colony.  Even  before 
that,  it  became  a  kind  of  Cape  of  Good  Hope  to  the  Colonists,  who 
called  here  on  their  expeditions  up  York,  Rappahannock,  Potomac, 
and  Nansemond  Rivers.  It  was  also  the  first  harbour  which  Eu- 
ropeans reached  after  their  long  voyages  over  the  Atlantic.  Here 
they  usually  stopped,  and  often  proceeded  to  Jamestown  and  Wil- 
liamsburg  by  land.  It  is  not,  therefore,  to  be  wondered  at  that  we 
find  a  church  and  ministry  here  at  an  early  period ;  especially  as 
this  place  does  not  appear  to  have  suffered  in  the  Indian  massacre 
of  1622,  the  natives  having  probably  at  this  time  been  driven  from 
this  corner  of  the  Colony.  We  have  no  vestry-book  of  more  an- 
cient date  than  1751  from  whence  to  draw  our  facts  concerning 
the  early  history  of  this  parish ;  but  the  records  of  the  court, 
which  are  equally  trustworthy,  as  far  back  as  the  year  1635,  have 
been  preserved  in  the  old  clerk's  office,  and  furnish  us  with  some 


230  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

interesting  documents  touching  the  ministers  and  church  at  Hamp- 
ton. I  am  indebted  to  the  researches  of  the  Kev.  John  McCabe, 
late  minister  of  Hampton,  for  the  following  facts  out  of  the  records 
of  the  court,  and  which  he  has  embodied  in  his  full  and  interest- 
ing account  of  this  parish  in  the  Church  Review. 

In  the  year  1644  we  find  the  churchwardens  presenting  to  the 
court  an  unworthy  female.  In  the  year  1646  we  find  Nicholas 
Brown  and  William  Armistead  presenting  one  of  their  own  body. 
In  the  year  1644  we  read  of  a  Rev.  Mr.  Mallory  as  performing 
service  and  being  remunerated  for  it.  In  the  next  year  we  read 
of  a  Rev.  Justinian  Aylmer,  who  continued  to  ofiiciate  until  1667, 
— twenty-three  years.  In  the  year  1667  we  read  of  a  Rev.  Jere- 
miah Taylor,  who  buried  a  Mr.  Nicholas  Baker  in  the  new  church 
of  Kichotan,  according  to  a  request  in  the  will. 

In  the  same  year  Mr.  Robert  Brough,  by  will,  requests  that  he 
may  be  buried  in  the  old  church  of  Kichotan.  In  one  and  the 
same  year  there  were  an  old  and  a  new  church  standing  at  Kicho- 
tan. The  old  one  had  probably  been  built  many  years,  and  was 
going  to  decay.  As  there  was  a  law  passed  in  1621,  under  the 
administration  of  Sir  Thomas  Yeardley,  that  a  house  of  worship 
should  be  erected  and  a  burial-ground  set  apart  on  every  planta- 
tion, (that  is,  settlement,)  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  there  was 
one  then  built  at  Kichotan,  if  not  before ;  and  that  the  new  one 
was  built  between  1660  and  1667,  and  that  new  one  is  the  present 
church  of  St.  John's,  at  Hampton.  As  to  the  location  of  the  old 
one,  Mr.  McCabe  and  some  friends  settled  that  point  beyond  all 
dispute.  There  is  an  old  burial-ground,  about  a  mile  from  Hamp- 
ton, on  the  Pembroke  farm,  now  the  property  of  John  Jones,  Es- 
quire, on  which  are  a  number  of  old  gravestones,  and  where  tradi- 
tion had  located  an  ancient  church.  To  this  Mr.  McCabe  and  his 
friends  repaired  with  proper  instruments,  and,  clearing  away  the 
rubbish  and  digging  into  the  earth,  soon  found  the  brick  foundation 
of  the  former  church  ;  the  superstructure  having  probably  been,  as 
with  most  other  first  churches,  of  wood.  Among  other  interments 
in  that  graveyard  are  those  of  John  Neville,  Vice- Admiral  of  his 
Majesty's  fleet  in  the  West  Indies,  who  died  in  1697 ;  of  Thomas 
Curie,  born  in  the  year  1640,  in  Sussex,  England,  and  dying  in 
1700 ;  also  of  the  Rev.  Andrew  Thompson,  minister  of  the  parish, 
who  died  in  1719,  "leaving  the  character  of  a  sober  and  religious 
man."  It  seems  that  the  old  church  had  been  repaired  after  the 
new  one  was  built,  and  that  it  and  the  burial-ground  were  pre- 
served for  funeral  purposes,  (as  the  old  church  and  graveyard  at 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  231 

Blandford  and  the  old  chapel  and  burying-ground  in  Clarke 
county ;)  but  now  they  are  ruins  in  the  midst  of  a  field.  From 
the  examination  of  records  Mr.  McCabe  concludes  that  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Mallory  was  the  minister  in  1664 ;  how  long  before  is  not  known. 
He  was  succeeded  in  1665  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Aylmer,  who  in  1667 
was  followed  by  the  Rev.  Jeremiah  Taylor.  He  was  a  disgrace  to 
his  name  and  the  ministry.  For  his  insolency  and  misbehaviour 
in  open  court,  he  was  committed  to  confinement  during  the  court's 
pleasure.  Again  he  was  presented  by  the  grand  jury  for  drunk- 
enness, and  again  for  slander.  It  speaks  well  for  the  grand  juries 
of  that  day,  that  they  would  take  cognizance  of  and  punish  of- 
fences which  are  sometimes  permitted  to  pass  unnoticed  or  unpu- 
nished by  some  church  judicatories  of  our  day,  of  various  denomi- 
nations. He  was  succeeded  in  1677  by  the  Rev.  John  Page,  who 
left  the  Colony  in  1687.  He  was  no  doubt  the  same  of  whom  we 
read  as  minister  of  St.  Peter's,  New  Kent,  for  one  year  about  this 
time.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Cope  Doyley  in  1687.  In 
1712  the  Rev.  Andrew  Thompson  became  the  rector,  and  died  in 
1719.*  In  1731  the  Rev.  Mr.  Fife  becomes  the  minister,  and  con- 
tinues until  his  death  in  1756.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Warrington,  who  died  in  1770.  The  Rev.  William  Selden 
followed  and  continued  until  1783,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev. 
William  JJixon.  It  does  not  appear  how  long  he  continued,  as 
there  is  no  meeting  of  the  vestry  from  1786  until  1806, — twenty 
years.  At  that  meeting  the  Rev.  George  Halson  was  chosen  minis- 
ter. About  this  time  also  the  Rev.  Mr.  Syme  served  for  a  short 
period.  Twenty  years  longer  elapsed  before  another  meeting  of 
the  vestry  occurred,  when  the  Rev.  Mark  L.  Chevers  was  chosen, 
who  continued  to  serve  the  parish,  in  connection  with  the  chap- 
laincy at  Old  Point,  until  1842  or  1843.  In  the  year  1845  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Bausman  became  its  minister,  and  in  1850  the  Rev.  Mr. 
McCabe,  who  continued  until  the  present  year,  1856. 


*  I  am  enabled  to  supply  a  deficiency  in  this  catalogue,  from  a  letter  of  the  Rev. 
James  Falconer,  who  was  minister  in  this  parish  between  the  Rev.  Mr.  Thompson 
and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Fife.  His  report  to  the  Bishop  of  London  is,  that  his  parish  is 
fifty  miles  in  circumference,  with  three  hundred  and  fifty  families ;  that  the  owners 
were  careful  to  instruct  the  young  negro  children  and  bring  them  to  baptism  ;  that 
service  is  performed  every  Sunday,  and  that  most  of  the  parishioners  attend ;  that 
there  were  about  one  hundred  communicants ;  that  his  salary  was  about  sixty-five 
pounds ;  that  there  were  two  public  schools  in  the  parish,  and  one  good  private  one 
kept  by  a  Mr.  William  Fife,  a  man  of  good  life  and  conversation.  He  was  doubt- 
less the  person  that  succeeded  him  in  1731. 


232  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

Concerning  two  of  the*  preceding  ministers,  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Warrington  and  the  Rev.  William  Selden,  there  is  a  transaction 
recorded  on  the  vestry-book  worthy  of  special  notice,  as  serving  to 
illustrate  still  more  the  contest  between  vestries  and  Governors, 
Commissaries,  and  the  Crown.  It  seems  that  at  the  death  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Fife  two  candidates  presented  themselves, — the  Rev.  Mr. 
Warrington,  who  was  recommended  to  the  parish  by  Governor 
Gooch,  and  Mr.  William  Selden,  then  a  young  lawyer,  probably  of 
Hampton,  who,  disliking  his  profession,  wished  to  enter  the  minis- 
try, and  applied  for  a  title  to  this  parish  with  which  to  proceed  to 
the  Bishop  of  London  for  Orders.  The  vote  in  the  vestry  being 
taken,  there  was  a  tie  between  the  candidates.  At  this  the  Go- 
vernor and  Commissary  were  much  displeased,  and  wrote  a  sharp 
letter  upbraiding  the  vestry  with  despising  the  authority  of  the 
Crown  and  the  Bishop  of  London  by  thus  refusing  to  comply  with 
the  recommendation  of  their  commissioned  agents  in  Virginia, — 
that  is,  themselves, — and  again  call  upon  them  to  receive  Mr. 
Warrington.  The  vestry  have  no  meeting  for  four  months,  and 
then  the  vote  was  the  same  as  before.  They,  however,  choose  Mr. 
Warrington  temporarily,  and  at  the  end  of  five  months  more  unani- 
mously choose  him  as  their  minister;  and  he  continued  to  serve 
them  faithfully  and  acceptably  until  his  death,  thirteen  years  after, 
in  1770.  At  his  death  Mr.  Selden  is  again  an  applicant  for  the 
parish,  is  elected,  and  goes  to  London  for  Orders,  which  he  obtains 
that  same  year,  and  continues  to  be  an  acceptable  minister  until 
1783,  when  he  resigned  on  account  of  ill-health,  and  soon  after 
died.  For  an  account  of  him  and  his  descendants,  I  refer  to  a 
note  in  my  second  article  on  Henrico ;  though  I  am  unable  to  re- 
concile the  date  of  his  birth,  as  there  given,  with  the  date  of  his 
application  to  the  vestry,  and  think  there  must  be  a  mistake  on 
the  part  of  my  informant. 

Of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Warrington  I  have  information  in  other  docu- 
ments, showing  him  to  have  been  a  fearless,  upright  man,  and 
while  reading  of  him  have  been  reminded  of  his  brave  and  patriotic 
grandson,  Commodore  Louis  Warrington.* 

*  The  Bev.  Mr.  Warrington  was  the  grandfather  of  Commodore  Warrington. 
From  his  birth  the  latter  became  an  object  of  peculiar  interest  to  a  lady  in  Wil- 
liamsburg,  whom  I  am  unable  to  name  or  identify  except  that  she  was  the  aunt  of 
a  Miss  Frances  Caines,  the  intimate  friend  of  Miss  Ambler,  afterward  Mrs.  Edward 
Carrington,  of  Richmond,  from  whose  papers  I  have  often  quoted.  Both  the  young 
ladies  had  been  companions  of  the  mother  of  young  Louis  Warrington,  and  took  a 
lively  interest  in  him  on  that  account.  Miss  Caines  and  Miss  Ambler  (afterward 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  238 

To  the  above  I  add  a  passage  from  the  article  of  Mr.  McCabe, 
which  had  escaped  my  notice  while  preparing  the  above : — 

"The  vestry-book  here  is  defaced  for  some  years,  owing,  we  presume,  to 
the  fact  that  in  the  change  of  the  Church  from  that  of  England  to  the 


Mrs.  Carrington)  corresponded  for  a  long  time  after  the  former  returned  to  England, 
as  she  was  only  a  temporary  sojourner  in  Virginia.  The  following  extracts  from 
one  of  Mrs.  Carrington's  letters  to  her  old  friend,  Miss  C.,  in  1820,  will,  I  am  sure, 
be  gratifying  to  my  readers,  not  only  on  account  of  what  refers  to  young  Warring- 
ton,  but  what  relates  to  other  subjects : — 

"At  our  advanced  age,  my  respected  friend,  it  would  seem  incredible  that  a 
renewal  of  intercourse  should  take  place  between  us.  Years  have  passed  since  I 
have  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  from  you,  and  but  for  the  visit  of  my  cousin  (John 
Jaqueline  Ambler)  to  England,  I  might  probably  have  gone  to  my  grave  without 
knowing  what  had  become  of  you.  Who  can  tell  but  it  may  be  a  foretaste  of  a 
reunion  in  a  better  world  that  a  merciful  God  has  in  store  for  us  ?  The  little  book 
you  presented  to  my  cousin  brought  to  my  recollection  the  one  you  presented  to  me 
some  forty  years  ago,  entitled  '  Sacred  Dramas.'  It  was  a  precious  gift  to  me,  and 
led  me  to  peruse  every  succeeding  work  of  that  excellent  author  (Miss  Hannah 
More)  with  delight,  and,  I  hope,  with  advantage.  What  a  woman  is  she !  And  what 
a  gift  have  her  writings  been  even  to  our  remote  corner  of  the  world !  Whenever 
England  is  brought  to  my  mind,  I  somehow  or  other  so  connect  the  names  of  Frances 
Caines,  Hannah  More,  and  the  hallowed  spot  of  Barley  Wood,  that  altogether  it 
seems  a  paradise.  In  one  of  your  last  letters  you  say,  '  Can  it  be  possible  that  the 
Captain  Warrington  I  have  seen  announced  in  the  Liverpool  papers,  as  lately  arrived 
in  England  with  despatches  from  America,  is  our  dear  little  Louis  ?'  It  was  the 
same  little  Louis  that  we  so  fondly  doted  on.  His  conduct  through  life  has  been 
distinguished,  — has  raised  him  to  high  standing  in  our  navy, — and  no  doubt  some 
future  historian  will  do  him  ample  justice  in  his  naval  character.  In  private  life 
he  has  been  alike  deserving." 

Mrs.  Carrington  then  mentions,  in  proof  of  his  generosity,  his  dividing  a  thou- 
sand pounds,  which  had  been  left  him  by  the  aunt  of  Miss  Caines,  with  two  half- 
sisters  who  were  in  need.  She  speaks  also  of  his  having  married  a  Miss  Gary  King, 
"a  sprightly  and  amiable  girl,  an  old  schoolmate  of  hers."  "They  are  now  living 
in  great  comfort  near  Norfolk ;  he  holding  some  office  in  the  navy-yard,  and  stand- 
ing high  in  the  confidence  of  his  country.  It  has  been  some  years  since  I  saw  him, 
and  on  his  last  visit  to  Richmond  my  health  was  too  bad  to  admit  of  my  inviting 
him.  It  was  a  visit,  however,  of  great  interest  to  many,  and  produced  an  excite- 
ment that  is  rarely  experienced.  How  would  you  have  felt,  my  dear  friend,  had 
you  seen  him  hailed  as  one  of  the  choicest  guardians  of  his  country,  called  by  the 
united  voice  of  Virginia  to  receive  a  splendid  sword  as  a  token  of  her  love  and 
gratitude  to  him  ?  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  describe  the  emotions  produced  in  my 
mind  when  I  heard  every  voice  united  in  commendation,  and  in  rapture  describe  his 
modest  manliness  as  he  entered  the  Senate-Hall  to  receive  his  merited  reward.  In 
an  instant  my  thoughts  flew  back  to  your  aunt's  room,  where  you  first  saw  the 
lovely  boy ;  and  busy  recollection  carried  me  still  further  back, — two  years  previous, 
— when  on  a  visit  to  Williamsburg  I  was  ushered  in  to  see  your  aunt,  who  laid  him 
on  my  lap,  and  in  agony  left  the  room." 

Mrs.  Carrington  adds  a  passage  from  a  projected  novel  of  her  aunt  Jaqueline,  in 
which  Louis  Warrington  was  to  be  the  hero: — "This  must  ever  be  the  lot  of  our 


234  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

Protestant  Episcopal  Churclf  of  the  United  States,  begun  in  1783,  con- 
summated in  1787,  and  the  first  Convention  in  Philadelphia,  July  28, 
1789,  with  Bishops  of  our  own  presiding,  this  parish  did  not  procure  a 
minister  during  that  period.  A  tomb  has  recently  been  erected,  from 
which  we  infer  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Skyren  was  probably  the  first  minister 
after  the  Revolution.  The  inscription  on  the  tomb  reads  as  follows : — 
'  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  the  Rev.  Henry  Skyren,  rector  of  Elizabeth 
City  parish.  Born  in  Whitehaven,  England,  anno  domini  1729.  Died 
in  Hampton,  Virginia,  A.D.  1795.  This  monument  is  erected  by  his 
surviving  children,  Elizabeth  Temple  and  John  Spottswood  Skyren/  " 

The  following  inscription,  on  a  stone  near  the  east  entrance  to 
the  church,  will  show  that  very  soon  after  the  change  spoken  of 
above,  the  parish  was  supplied  with  regular  services  : — "  Sacred  to 
the  memory  of  the  Rev.  John  Jones  Spooner,  rector  of  the  church 
in  Elizabeth  City  county,  who  departed  this  life  September  15th, 
1799,  aged  forty-two  years."  And  then,  to  the  right  of  the  door 
entering  from  the  east,  another,  bearing  the  following  : — "  Departed 
this  life  January  17th,  1806,  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Brown,  rector  of 
Elizabeth  City  parish,  aged  thirty-nine  years." 

Another  extract  also  I  take  the  liberty  of  making  : — 


poor  clergy, — a  scanty  subsistence  while  living,  and  at  their  death  poverty  and 
misery  is  their  children's  only  inheritance."  In  which,  however,  we  must  beg  leave 
widely  to  differ  from  this  excellent  lady ;  and  must  class  this  sentiment  and  asser- 
tion among  many  others  in  novels,  projected  or  executed,  as  we  believe  the  de- 
scendants of  pious  clergymen  have  many  special  blessings  entailed  upon  them. 
The  prayers  and  example  of  Commodore  Warring  ton's  pious  grandfather  may  have 
been  among  the  means  appointed  of  Providence  for  promoting  the  future  greatness, 
and,  what  is  infinitely  better,  the  future  piety,  of  Commodore  Warrington.  My  resi- 
dence in  Norfolk,  as  minister  of  Christ  Church,  for  two  years,  enabled  me  to  form  a 
just  estimate  of  his  character.  Though  his  station  was  at  the  navy-yard  in  Gos- 
port,  and  his  residence  there,  he  was  a  most  punctual  attendant  on  the  Sabbath  in 
Christ  Church,  Norfolk.  Mrs.  Carrington  speaks  of  the  modest  manliness,  admired 
of  all,  with  which  he  entered  the  Senate-Chamber  to  receive  the  sword  which  was 
voted  him  by  the  Legislature  of  Virginia.  I  have  seen  him  on  every  succeeding 
Sabbath  for  the  greater  part  of  two  years  in  a  much  more  desirable  and  honourable 
place,  when  walking  up  the  middle  aisle  of  Christ  Church  with  the  same  "modest 
manliness."  There  was  in  him  the  dignity  of  the  soldier  and  the  modesty  of  the 
Christian  blended  together.  He  was  not  then  in  full  membership  with  the  Church, 
though  all  thought  he  might  with  propriety  have  been.  But,  even  then,  his  devout 
behaviour  and  respectful  use  of  the  Prayer  Book  was  an  example  to  all  others.  As 
through  life  he  had  always,  so  far  as  I  know  and  believe,  been  the  friend  of  religion, 
and  manifested  it  in  those  public  ways  required  of  naval  officers,  so,  in  his  latter 
days,  he  sealed  that  testimony  by  entering  into  full  communion  with  the  Church  of 
his  choice  and  of  his  ancestors. 

P.S. — I  have  since  discovered  that  the  lady  who  patronized  Louis  Warrington  was 
Mrs.  Riddle,  sister  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Warrington  and  great-aunt  of  Commodore 
Warrington. 


ST.     JOHN'S      CHURCH,      HAMPTON. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  235 

"  During  the  last  war  with  Great  Britain,  Hampton  was  sacked,  its 
inhabitants  pillaged,  one  of  its  aged  citizens,  sick  and  infirm,  wantonly 
murdered  in  the  arms  of  his  wife,  and  other  crimes  committed  by  hireling 
soldiers  and  by  brutalized  officers,  over  which  the  chaste  historian  must 
draw  a  veil.  The  Church  of  God  itself  was  not  spared  during  the  satur- 
nalia of  lust  and  violence.  His  temple  was  profaned  and  his  altars 
desecrated.  What  British  ruthlessness  had  left  scattered  and  prostrate 
was  soon  looked  upon  with  neglect.  The  moles  and  bats  held  their  revels 
undisturbed  within  its  once  hallowed  courts,  and  the  obscene  owl  nestled 
and  brought  forth  in  the  ark  of  the  covenant.  The  church  in  which  our 
fathers  worshipped  stabled  the  horse  and  stalled  the  ox.  The  very  tomb 
of  the  dead,  sacred  in  all  lands,  became  a  slaughter-ground  of  the  butcher, 
and  an  arena  for  pugilistic  contests.  A  few  faithful  ones  wept  when  they 
remembered  Zion  in  her  day  of  prosperity  and  beheld  her  in  her  hour  of 
homeless  travail,  and  uttered  their  cry,  l  How  long,  oh  Lord,  how  long  ?' " 

The  following  preamble,  accompanying  a  subscription,  tells  the 
story  of  her  woes,  and  breathes  the  language  of  returning  hope  : — 

"  Whereas,  from  a  variety  of  circumstances,  the  Episcopal  Church  in  the 
town  of  Hampton  is  in  a  state  of  dilapidation,  and  will  ere  long  moulder 
into  ruins  unless  some  friendly  hand  be  extended  to  its  relief,  and,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  vestry,  the  only  method  that  can  be  pursued  to  accomplish 
the  laudable  design  of  restoring  it  to  the  order  in  which  our  forefathers 
bequeathed  it  to  their  children,  is  to  resort  to  subscription,  they  do 
earnestly  solicit  pecuniary  aid  from  all  its  friends,  in  a  full  belief  that  our 
appeal  will  not  be  made  in  vain.  And,  hoping  that  God  will  put  it  into 
the  hearts  of  the  people  to  be  benevolently  disposed  toward  our  long- 
neglected  Zion/'  &c. 

A  committee  was  appointed  to  take  counsel  with  Bishop  Moore 
as  to  the  best  method  of  raising  funds  for  the  purpose.  The  sub- 
scription-paper was  circulated,  not  merely  in  Hampton,  but  sent 
to  some  whose  fathers  had  once  worshipped  in  the  old  house,  and 
the  desired  object  was  attained.  Among  the  subscribers  we  notice 
Commodore  Warrington  for  fifty  dollars ;  Commodore  James  Bar- 
ron,  one  hundred ;  the  latter,  as  well  as  his  brother,  who  was  also  a 
commodore  in  the  American  navy,  having  been  born  in  the  parish. 

Funds  being  raised,  the  church  was  thoroughly  repaired.  It 
was  consecrated  by  Bishop  Moore  on  Friday,  the  8th  of  January, 
1830,  and  is  now  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  comfortable 
places  of  worship  in  Virginia. 

A  list  of  the  vestrymen  from  1751  to  1826  will  close  our  notice 
of  this  parish : — 

Mr.  Booth  Armistead,  George  Wray,  William  Armistead,  Henry  King, 
Wilson  Miles  Gary,  William  Mallory,  William  Wager,  Jas.  Wallace,  John 
Tabb,  Joseph  Selden,  Miles  King,  Gary  Selden,  Warlock  Westwood, 
Merit  Sweny,  Robert  Armistead,  John  Allen,  Anthony  Tucker,  Baldwin 


236  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

Shephard,  William  Westwood,  Charles  King,  Charles  Jennings,  West- 
wood  Armistead,  William  Parsons,  John  Moore,  Jacob  Walker,  Thomas 
Latimer,  James  Wallace,  William  Latimer,  William  Armistead,  Booth 
Armistead,  Wilson  Miles  Gary,  William  Mallory,  Joseph  Selden,  Miles 
King,  Robert  Bright,  William  Brough,  Thomas  Allen,  Robert  Armistead, 
John  Cowper,  James  Latimer.  Thomas  Watts,  Samuel  Watts,  Miles  Gary, 
William  Loury,  Benjamin  Philips,  William  Armistead,  Thomas  Latimer, 
Robert  Lively,  John  Gary,  Dr.  Wm.  Hope,  J.  W.  Jones,  Westwood  T. 
Armistead,  Col.  Gr.  A.  Gary,  Capt.  T.  Hope,  Capt.  J.  Herbert,  Dr.  R.  G. 
Banks,  Capt.  John  F.  Wray,  Richard  C.  Servant,  Samuel  Dewbre. 

The  last-named  vestryman  but  one — Mr.  Richard  B.  Servant — 
was  for  many  years,  and  to  the  close  of  the  vestry-book,  the  secre- 
tary of  the  vestry.  It  has  now  been  many  years  since  he  left 
Virginia  and  moved  to  Illinois,  which  was  once  a  county  of  Vir- 
ginia, made  so  for  special  purposes,  at  a  time  when  Virginia's 
western  boundary  was  the  Eastern  Ocean,  and  embraced  even 
modern  California,  at  least  in  theory  or  by  royal  grant.  Mr.  Ser- 
vant, as  may  be  seen  by  the  following  letter,  has  not  forgotten  the 
old  State  and  Church  of  Virginia : — 

"  CHESTER,  ILLINOIS,  Nov.  27,  1856. 

"  RT.  REV.  AND  VERY  DEAR  SIR  : — I  have  read  with  deep  and  filial 
interest  your  reminiscenses  published  in  the  Southern  Churchman,  and  I 
send  you  a  memorandum,  nastily  made  from  recollection.  I  have  no 
disposition  to  have  niy  name  appear  in  print,  but  if  you  have  not  already 
all  the  information  that  you  may  desire  in  regard  to  Elizabeth  City  parish 
and  the  old  church  at  Hampton,  you  may  use  such  parts  of  the  following 
memorandum  as  may  suit  you  : — 

"  '  I  think  that  the  record  will  show  that  Parson  Brown  was  the  last 
settled  minister,  and  I  think  his  immediate  predecessor  was  Parson  Simms, 
said  to  be  the  best  reader  in  the  diocese,  but  a  great  "  fox-hunter ;"  and,  to 
the  best  of  my  recollection,  Parson  George  Halson,  who  was  also  principal 
of  the  Hampton  Academy,  was  the  incumbent, — whether  regular  or  not  I 
am  not  sure,  but  the  record  will  explain.  He  officiated  until  the  war  of 
1812.  During  the  interval  between  Parson  Brown  and  the  war,  the 
framework  of  the  tower,  which  stood  on  the  west  end  of  the  church,  be- 
came so  decayed  that  the  "Old  Queen  Anne  Bell"  had  to  be  taken  down 
and  was  placed  in  the  angle  made  by  the  church  and  the  tower.  From 
that  position  it  was  removed,  by  the  order  of  Major  Crutchfield,  who  com- 
manded the  troops  encamped  on  Little  England  Farm,  to  the  "  guard- 
house" of  that  encampment,  and  a  short  time  after  the  tongue  became 
loose,  an  axe  was  used  to  strike  the  hour,  and  the  bell  cracked.  We  had 
it  recast  about  the  year  1825.  It  was  probably  the  best  bell  in  the  Colony. 

"'After  the  British  troops  evacuated  Hampton,  on,  I  think,  the  27th  of 
June,  1813,  I,  then  a  boy  twelve  years  old,  went  into  town;  and  the  first 
thing  that  attracted  my  attention  was,  that  the  enemy  had  used  the 
churchyard,  where  the  last  mortal  remains  of  my  ancestors  for  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  or  more  had  been  deposited,  for  slaughtering  cattle, 
and  the  walls  were  smoked  in  numerous  paces  where  they  had  made  fires 
with  which  to  cook  their  provisions,  The  venerable  old  church  was  also 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  237 

much  misused  in  the  interior,  as  that  seemed  to  have  been  used  as  a  com- 
mon barrack. 

"'From  this  time  until  about  the  year  1824,  the  church  and  the  walls 
surrounding  it  were  rapidly  going  to  decay, — the  church  a  common  shelter 
for  horses,  cattle,  and  hogs,  and  was  profaned  by  men  and  boys  also.  I 
had  often  said  to  my  dear  sainted  mother,  that  if  I  lived  to  be  a  man  I 
would  stir  up  the  people  to  repair  the  old  church  and  walls.  In  the  year 
1822  or  1823,  just  as  I  was  arriving  to  manhood,  an  incident  occurred 
which  I  shall  never  forget.  Mrs.  Jane  Hope,  eldest  daughter  of  the  late 
Commodore  James  Barron,  was  spending  the  evening  with  my  mother, 
(who  resided  on  the  lot  adjoining,  west  of  the  church,)  and  she  proposed 
a  visit  to  the  graves  of  our  ancestors ;  and,  while  standing  at  the  front 
door  of  the  church,  within  a  foot  of  the  graves  of  my  ancestors,  she  re- 
marked to  me,  "  Cousin,  if  I  were  a  man  I  would  have  these  walls  built 
up."  Her  words  were  like  electricity,  and  from  that  moment  my  deter- 
mination was  fixed.  The  very  next  day  I  called  on  the  late  Westwood  Armi- 
stead,  Dr.  William  Hope,  Captain  Robert  Lively,  and  Colonel  Wilson  W. 
Jones;  and  the  result  of  our  interview  was,  that  we  should  prepare  a  sub- 
scription-paper to  have  the  wall  around  the  old  graveyard  repaired,  little 
thinking  then  that  the  repairs  of  the  "  old  church"  would  follow.  I  com- 
menced on  the  same  day,  and,  after  raising  all  that  I  could  in  the  parish, 
proceeded  to  Norfolk,  and  with  the  assistance  of  Commodores  Barron 
and  Warrington,  (the  grandfather  of  the  latter  having  been  one  of  the 
ministers  of  the  church,)  Miles  King,  late  Navy  Agent,  and  Dr.  William 
Selden,  whose  ancestors  were  buried  in  the  old  churchyard,  Judge  Strange, 
of  North  Carolina,  who  also  had  a  relative  buried  there,  and  subscribed 
liberally,  raised  a  sufficient  sum  to  repair  the  walls  around  the  graveyard, 
which  in  a  short  time  were  completed,  and  a  substantial  wrought-iron 
gate  placed  at  the  entrance. 

" l  About  the  year  1824  or  1825,  (the  record  will  show,)  a  meeting  of 
the  friends  of  the  church  was  called,  a  vestry  elected,  and  an  effort  made 
to  repair  the  church,  which,  with  the  assistance  of  our  friends  at  Norfolk, 
was  successful  beyond  our  most  sanguine  anticipations.  A  short  time 
after,  the  Rev.  Mark  L.  Chevers  was  elected  rector :  of  this,  however, 
and  what  has  followed,  the  record  will  show. 

" l  When  we  undertook  to  repair  the  church  there  was  nothing  standing 
but  the  bare  walls  and  a  leaky  roof, — not  a  vestige  of  doors,  windows,  or 
floors.  In  order  to  give  an  impetus  to  our  proceedings,  we  prevailed  upon 
good  old  Bishop  Moore  to  pay  us  a  visit,  and,  to  make  his  visit  the  more 
effective,  we  had  the  accumulated  filth  cleansed  out,  and  the  old  walls, 
after  a  lapse  of  many  years,  resounded  with  prayer  and  praise.  I  sat  on 
the  bare  tiles ;  but  what  a  seat,  and  what  a  day !  It  was  manifest  to  all 
that  "  the  glory  of  the  Lord  filled  the  house."  Dr.  Ducachet  occasionally 
came  over  to  preach  for  us,  and  at  every  visit  the  remark  was  that  "some 
more  nails  were  driven  into  the  church." 

" '  Upon  the  election  of  the  vestry  there  was  not  a  vestige  of  the  church- 
furniture  to  be  found.  We,  however,  succeeded  in  finding  the  old  vestry- 
book,  which  had  been  carefully  preserved  by  the  late  Samuel  Watts,  or, 
as  he  was  more  familiarly  called,  "  Uncle  Sammy." 

"  *  I  doubt  very  much  whether,  upon  the  reorganization  and  resuscitation 
of  the  parish,  there  were  a  half-dozen  Prayer  Books  in  the  parish.' 

"You  will  see  that  I  have  written  the  foregoing  just  as  circumstances 


J 

238  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

occurred  to  me  :  if  you  can*  cull  any  thing  out  of  it  and  put  it  in  shape, 
you  can  use  it. 

"  I  am,  with  great  esteem, 

"  Your  brother  in  Christ, 


^reat  esteem, 

Your  brother  in  Christ, 

"R.  B.  SERVANT. 


'"P.S. — My  great-grandfather  was  commandant  of  the  garrison  at  Old 
Point  Comfort,  more  than  one  hundred  and  eighty  years  ago,  and  since 
that  time  there  has  not  been  a  Dissenter  in  the  family.  Do  you  ask  how 
this  happened,  when  the  church  had  sunk  so  low  that  there  was  scarcely 
any  to  do  it  reverence  ?  I  answer,  the  habitual  use  of  the  Prayer  Book 
and  FAMILY  PRAYERS.  My  father  died  when  I  was  sixteen  years  old, 
and  my  mother  had  an  aversion  to  leading  in  prayer,  but  she  insisted 
that  I  should  do  so,  and  our  family  were  kept  together  in  the  '  one  fold ' 
by  means  of  FAMILY  PRAYER. " 

PARISH  OF  WARWICK. 

Of  this  we  can  say  but  little.  The  county  was  one  of  the  eight 
original  shires  in  1634.  It  is  a  small  county  on  the  lower  part  of 
James  River,  lying  alongside  of  Elizabeth  City  and  York  counties. 
Of  course  it  became  a  parish  and  county  at  the  same  time,  and 
they  have  always  been  known  by  the  same  names.  The  first 
information  we  have  of  its  ministers  is  in  1754,  when  the  Rev. 
Roscoe  Cole  had  charge  of  the  parish.  In  the  year  1758  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Davis  was  minister.  In  the  years  1773,  1774,  and  1776, 
the  Rev.  William  Hubard  was  there.  In  the  year  1785  the  Rev. 
William  Bland,  of  whom  we  have  already  written,  was  in  the  Con- 
vention which  organized  the  diocese,  with  Mr.  Richard  Cary  as 
his  lay  delegate.  The  Carys  were  a  very  ancient  and  most  re- 
spectable family  in  that  part  of  Virginia.  It  is  our  purpose  to 
visit  their  ancient  seat  and  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  county,  in  the 
hope  of  finding  something  worth  adding  to  this  meagre  account; 
and,  in  the  mean  while,  would  be  thankful  to  any  member  of  the 
family  for  some  account  of  it.* 


*  We  enlarge  our  notices  of  Warwick  a  little  by  the  following  account  of  the 
Digges,  some  of  whom  lived  in  it.  The  family  of  Digges  is  most  ancient  and 
honourable.  Virginians  and  Episcopalians  need  not  wish  to  go  further  back  than 
to  the  Hon.  Dudley  Digges,  one  of  the  most  active  members  of  that  most  noble  and 
Christian  association,  the  London  Company, — far  more  of  a  missionary  institution 
than  any  of  that  day.  The  minutes  of  the  London  Company  show  him  to  have 
ever  been  at  his  post  in  the  meetings  of  the  committee,  with  such  men  as  the  Earl 
of  Southampton,  the  Ferrars,  and  others.  Mr.  Burk,  after  speaking  the  praises 
of  this  Company  for  purity  of  morals,  for  noble  motives,  and  even  a  tolerant  spirit 
of  religion,  which  was  high  commendation  from  an  infidel  as  he  was,  then  extols 
its  literary  character, — representing  Southampton  as  the  friend  of  Shakspeare,  and 


FAMILIES   OP  VIRGINIA.  239 


CHARLES,  OR   CHARLES   RIVER   PARISH,  YORK  COUNTY. 

This  was  separated  from  York-Hampton  parish  before  the  year 
1754,  but  how  long  we  have  been  unable  as  yet  to  ascertain.  The 
Rev.  Thomas  Warrington  was  ordained  in  1747  and  was  its  minis- 
ter in  1754,  and  until  he  went  to  Hampton  in  1756.  As  I  do  not 
see  his  name  as  belonging  to  any  other  parish,  it  is  probable  that 
he  entered  at  once  on  the  ministry  in  this  parish. 

The  Rev.  Joseph  Davenport  was  the  minister  in  1773, 1774,  and 
also  in  1785.  In  the  last  year  he  appears  in  the  Convention  with 
Mr.  Robert  Shield  as  lay  delegate.  This  is  all  we  can  learn  as  to 
the  parish  of  Charles, — so  called  because  on  York  River,  which 
was  once  called  Charles  River,  and  because  York  county  was  once 
called  Charles  River  county. 

Before  crossing  York  River  to  treat  of  the  parishes  of  Glouces- 
ter and  Mathews,  it  may  be  well  to  observe  that  at  an  early  period 
there  may  be  found  the  names  of  a  number  of  parishes  which  once 

George  Sandys,  the  Company's  Treasurer  in  Virginia,  as  translating  Ovid  in  the 
wilds  of  Virginia, — concluding  thus: — "Sir  Edwin  Sandys,  Sir  Dudley  Digges,  Sir 
John  Saville,  with  several  other  members  of  the  London  Company,  were  considered 
the  most  elegant  scholars  and  the  most  eloquent  speakers  in  the  nation."  The  name 
of  Digges  was  soon  transferred  to  Virginia.  We  read  of  Digges's  Hundred  among 
the  early  settlements  on  James  River.  We  read  in  1654  of  Edward  Digges  made 
one  of  the  Council,  and  so  approving  himself  in  that  office  as  to  be  called  to  preside 
oyer  the  Colony ;  and  then,  at  the  expiration  of  his  term,  to  be  requested  to  con- 
tinue in  it  as  long  as  he  continued  in  the  country,  with  other  marks  of  distinction. 
Thence  onward  we  meet  with  thp  name  in  the  lists  of  vestrymen  and  Burgesses, 
until  the  period  came  in  our  country's  history  which  tried  the  souls  even  of  the 
bravest,  when,  in  1773,  we  find  the  name  of  Dudley  Digges  on  the  first  committee 
for  correspondence  with  the  other  Colonies  about  our  grievances;  and  in  1776  the 
names  of  Dudley  Digges  and  William  Digges  as  members  from  York  with  General 
Nelson  in  the  great  Convention.  And  ever  since  that  time  it  has  been  our  happiness 
to  find  that  name  often  enrolled  on  the  lists  of  vestrymen  and  communicants  of  our 
Church.  One  of  the  descendants  of  the  Digges,  who  died  in  1700,  was  named 
Cole  Digges,  a  man  of  large  property,  owning  Chilham  Castle  near  York,  Bellfield 
on  York  River,  between  York  and  Williamsburg,  and  Denbigh  in  Warwick.  His 
sons  were  Edward,  William,  and  Dudley.  Among  his  grandchildren  were  William, 
who  married  his  cousin  Elizabeth,  of  Denbigh ;  Dudley,  who  married  his  cousin 
Louisa :  Thomas  and  Edward  moved  to  Fauquier  and  had  families.  One  grand- 
daughter married  a  Mr.  Powell,  of  Petersburg.  Two  married  Fitzhughs,  of  Fau- 
quier. The  first  wife  of  the  first  Dudley  was  a  Miss  Armistead ;  the  second,  Miss 
Wormley,  of  Rosegill.  He  had  two  sons,  Cole  and  Dudley,  and  several  daughters, 
one  of  whom  married  a  Burwell,  another  a  Stratton,  of  the  Eastern  Shore,  a  third 
a  Digges,  and  two  of  them  married  Nicolsons.  The  wife  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wood- 
bridge  is  daughter  of  one  of  the  last.  One  daughter  of  the  first  Cole  Digges  mar 
ried  Nathaniel  Harrison,  of  Brandon ;  another,  Nathaniel  Harrison,  of  Wakefield 


240  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

existed  in  that  part  of  Virginia  lying  between  Warwick  and 
Charles  City,  below  and  above  Jamestown  and  round  about  Wil- 
liamsburg ;  as,  for  instance,  Southwark,  Chiskiack,  Middletown, 
Harop,  Nutmeg  and  Denbigh,  Wilmington,  Marston,  which  were 
soon  merged  into  James  City,  York-Hampton,  Bruton,  and  West- 
over  parish.  Soon  after  the  settlement  of  the  country,  when  the 
Indians  abounded  and  it  was  dangerous  to  go  far  to  worship,  every 
little  plantation  or  settlement  in  that  region  was  made  a  parish. 
There  is  one  parish,  by  the  name  of  Westminster,  which  as  yet  I 
have  been  unable  to  locate,  and  which  made  a  report  to  the  Bishop 
of  London  in  1724.  Its  communicants  only  numbered  sixteen.  I 
incline  to  think  it  was  somewhere  on  the  Chickahominy.  Its  minis- 
ter was  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cox. 

In  accordance  with  the  determination  expressed  above,  I  have 
visited  old  Warwick,  which,  though  the  least  of  all  shires  of  Vir- 
ginia, was  one  of  the  most  fruitful  nurseries  of  the  families  of 
Virginia.  Its  contiguity  to  James  River  and  Jamestown  rendered 
it  a  safe  place  for  early  Colonists  to  settle  in.  It  was  probably  at 
one  time,  according  to  its  dimensions,  the  most  populous  of  all  the 
counties.  In  evidence  of  which,  I  find  from  an  examination  of  the 
records  of  the  Clerk's  Office,  which  extend  back  to  about  1642, 
that  there  were,  at  one  time,  not  less  than  eight  parishes  in  War- 
wick. Two  of  these  were  on  Mulberry  Island, — one  called  Stanley 
Hundred,  and  the  other  Nutmeg  Quarter.  It  is  really  not  an 
island,  as  Jamestown  was  not  an  island,  though  both  of  them  so  called. 
Mulberry  Island  joined  the  mainland  in  its  upper  part,  and  one  of 
its  parishes  at  least — Stanley  Hundred — was  at  one  time  connected 
with  the  church  at  Jamestown,  and  had  much  the  largest  congre- 
gation. The  result  of  my  hasty  examination  of  the  old  and  de- 
cayed records  at  Warwick  Court-house,  some  of  which  are  like  the 
exhumed  volumes  from  the  long-buried  towns  of  the  East,  and  will 
scarce  bear  handling,  was  the  discovery  that  the  following  were  the 
most  prominent  names  in  this  county  in  times  long  since  gone 
by :  —  Fauntleroy,  Hill,  Bushrodd,  Ryland,  Ballard,  Purnell, 
Ashton,  Clayborne,  Gary,  Dade,  Griffith,  Whittaker,  Pritchard, 
Hurd,  Harwood,  Bassett,  Watkins,  Smith,  Digges,  Dudley,  Petit, 
Radford,  Stephens,  Wood,  Bradford,  Stratton,  Glascock,  Patti- 
son,  Barber,  Allsop,  Browninge,  Killpatricke,  Nowell,  Lewellin, 
Goodale,  Dawson,  Cosby,  Wythe,  Reade,  Bolton,  Dixon,  Lang- 
horne,  Morgan,  Fenton,  Chisman,  Watkins,  John,  Lang,  Parker, 
West.  No  one  can  look  over  this  list  without  exclaiming,  "  What 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  241 

a  prolific  nursery  of  Virginia  families  was  old  Warwick  !"  In  what 
part  of  Virginia  are  not  some  of  the  descendants  of  these  first 
settlers  to  be  found  ?* 

Besides  visiting  the  old  court-house  and  Clerk's  Office  and  jail 
(the  latter  without  an  inmate)  of  Warwick  county,  I  went  to  the 
ancient  seat  of  the  Coles  and  Digges,  at  Denbigh,  on  James 
River,  just  opposite  to  Nutmeg  Quarter,  on  Mulberry  Island,  the 
island  reaching  down  to  this  place  and  only  separated  from  it  by 
Warwick  River.  The  ancient  house  at  Denbigh  is  no  more,  ex- 
cept one  wing  of  it,  which  forms  a  part  of  the  habitation  of  the 
present  owner,  Mr.  Young,  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  old  Epis- 
copal families  of  Denbigh  parish.  The  settlement  at  Denbigh  was 
formerly  the  seat  of  the  Coles  and  Digges,  who  intermarried. 
The  Hon.  Edward  Digges,  no  doubt,  at  one  time  lived  at  this  place 
and  owned  part  of  Mulberry  Island,  which  may  have  received  its 
name  from  the  trees  which  furnished  food  for  the  worms  which 
were  used  in  the  raising  of  silk,  of  which  operation  Mr.  Digges  was 
the  great  patron,  as  appears  from  history  and  his  tombstone.  There 
is  still  handed  down,  in  the  family  residing  there,  a  ball  of  the  raw 
material,  made  at  an  early  period,  a  portion  of  which  was  pre- 
sented to  me.  Within  a  few  miles  of  Denbigh  farm  is  one  of  the 
ancient  seats  of  the  Cary  family,  and,  at  the  same  distance,  old 
Denbigh  Church.  I  paid  a  visit  to  the  latter,  and  found  it  in  a 
much  better  condition  than  I  could  have  expected.  It  is  in  the 
parish  called  Upper  Denbigh,  there  being  formerly  one  called 
Lower  Denbigh.  The  present  building  was  erected  one  hundred 
and  ten  years  since ;  and  the  weatherboarding  was  so  well  done, 
and  was  of  such  excellent  material,  that  it  is  still  good.  The 
foundation  of  an  older  one  is  plainly  to  be  traced  a  short  distance 
behind  it,  in  the  woods  which  come  up  to  the  present  church,  which 
is  only  a  few  yards  from  the  main  Warwick  road  leading  up  and 
down  the  country.  There  is  only  one  large  tombstone  there,  on 
which  is  the  following  inscription  : — 

"  Mary  Harrison,  daughter  of  the  Honble  Cole  Digges,  of  his  Majesty's 

*  The  following  extract,  from  an  old  will  among  the  records,  is  worthy  of  inser- 
tion : — 

"In  the  name  of  God,  Amen:  I,  Garnett  Corbett,  of  the  county  of  Warwick, 
being  now  sick  and  weake,  but  of  sound  and  perfect  memory,  and  knowing  not  how 
soone  it  may  be  the  pleasure  of  Almighty  God  to  release  mee  out  of  this  transitory 
world,  doe  hereby  make  my  last  will  and  testament,  in  form  following, — viz. : — 

"  First,  and  principally,  I  most  humbly  recommend  my  soule  into  the  protection 
and  conservation  of  my  blessed  and  precious  Redeemer,  Jesus  Christ,  with  full  and 
whole  trust  in  him,  by  his  bitter  death  and  passion,  to  receive  salvation." 

16 


242  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

Council,  wife  of  Nathaniel  Hafrison,  of  Prince  George  county,  died  No- 
vember 12th,  1744,  in  her  27th  year.  She  so  discharged  the  several 
duties  of  a  wife,  mother,  daughter,  and  neighbour,  that  her  relations  and 
acquaintances  might  justly  esteem  their  loss  insupportable,  was  it  not 
chastened  with  the  remembrance  that  every  virtue  which  adds  weight  to 
their  loss  augments  her  reward." 

Mrs.  Harrison  was  grandmother  of  the  late  George  Harrison, 
of  Lower  Brandon,  and  of  Mr.  William  Harrison,  of  Upper  Bran- 
don, on  James  River.*  I  also  visited  the  site  of  another  old 
church  in  Warwick,  in  the  parish  of  Martin's  Hundred  a  few 
miles  from  the  Grove,  the  former  seat  of  the  Burwells.  After 
much  exploring  of  the  place,  now  covered  with  trees  and  bushes 
and  leaves,  my  companion,  Mr.  Richard  Randolph,  and  myself  felt 
beneath  our  feet  a  tombstone  covered  with  moss  and  leaves,  and, 
on  clearing  them  away,  deciphered  the  name  of  "  Samuel  Pond, 
of  Martin's  Hundred  parish,  in  the  Colony  of  Va.,  who  departed 
this  life  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1694,  aged  48."  By  this  disco- 
very alone  have  I  been  able  to  locate  the  parish  of  Martin's  Hun- 
dred, so  often  mentioned  in  the  early  history  and  statutes  of  Vir- 
ginia. A  part  of  this  parish  may  have  been  in  James  City  county. 

The  family  of  Cary  owned  large  tracts  of  land  in  this  county, 
and  had  two  family-seats,  well  known  and  much  visited  in  former 
days.  One  of  them  is  near  Denbigh.  The  tombs  of  a  number  of 
the  family  are  still  to  be  seen  there.  The  other,  called  Richneck, 
is  about  eight  miles  off,  and  higher  up  the  county.  The  last  occu- 
pant bearing  the  name  was  Mr.  Cary,  who  moved  to  Carys- 
brook,  in  Fluvanna  county.  On  visiting  this  place,  and  going  to 
the  graveyard  where  some  of  the  ancestors  had  been  buried,  I 
found  that  the  brick  enclosure  had  been  removed,  and  even  the 
bricks  underneath  the  only  large  tombstone  which  was  there  had 
been  taken  away,  and  used  in  constructing  a  steam  mill  for  sawing 
up  the  timber  of  the  plantation.  The  whole  estate,  consisting  chiefly 


*  I  ascertained,  also,  that  the  last  ministers  who  officiated  at  Denbigh  Church 
were  the  Rev.  Mr.  Camm,  son  of  the  Rev.  Commissary  Camm,  and  a  Mr.  Wood, — 
both  of  them  respectable  men.  They  officiated  at  some  other  place  or  places  in 
Warwick  at  the  same  time.  The  old  high-backed  pews  are  still  retained.  I  was 
told  that  after  the  Episcopal  Church  had  ceased  to  have  services  in  this  church,  and 
other  denominations  had  taken  possession,  on  the  occasion  of  some  protracted  and 
very  exciting  meeting,  when  the  old  pews  seemed  to  be  in  the  way  of  promoting  a 
revival,  it  was  proposed  from  the  pulpit  that  they  be  taken  away  and  benches  put 
in  place  of  them.  The  measure  was  about  to  be  carried,  when  a  young  man,  whose 
ancestors  had  worshipped  in  the  old  church  as  it  was,  rose  up  and  protested  against 
it,  saying  that  he  would  appeal  to  the  law  and  prevent  it." 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  248 

of  forest,  either  of  ancient  or  modern  growth,  and  amounting  to 
fifteen  hundred  acres,  had  been  sold  to  persons  from  a  distance, 
who  were  converting  it  into  lumber  and  wood.  What  is  true  of 
this  is  true  of  many  other  old  settlements  in  Warwick.  Impove- 
rished by  improper  culture,  and  deserted  of  its  former  owners,  what 
was  once  covered  with  habitations  and  people  has  now  returned  to 
its  primeval  state,  and  is  dense  forest.  It  is  now  feeding  the  steam- 
boats and  furnishing  building-materials  for  our  towns.  A  few 
more  generations  may  see  it  once  more  in  a  different  condition. 

Before  leaving  this  county,  it  will  be  interesting  to  our  readers 
to  have  an  extract  from  the  Acts  of  Assembly,  in  the  year  1654, 
touching  one  whose  family  name  is  on  the  list  of  the  early  inha- 
bitants of  Warwick,  and  who  may  himself  have  belonged  to  it  at 
the  time : — 

"PUBLIQUE    ORDERS   OP   ASSEMBLY 

"  Whereas,  Col.  Edward  Hill,  unanimously  chosen  Speaker  of  this  House, 
was  afterward  maliciously  reported  by  William  Hatcher  to  be  an  atheist 
and  blasphemer,  according  to  an  information  exhibited  against  him  the 
last  Quarter-court,  from  which  the  Honourable  Governor  and  Council  then 
cleared  the  said  Edward  Hill,  and  now  certified  the  same  unto  the  House ; 
and  forasmuch  as  the  said  William  Hatcher,  notwithstanding  he  had  notice 
given  him  of  the  Governor  and  Council's  pleasure  therein,  and  of  the  said 
Col.  Hill  being  cleared  as  aforesaid,  hath  also  reported  that  ( the  mouth  of 
this  House  was  a  devil/  nominating  and  meaning  thereby  the  said  Right 
Worshipfull  Col.  Edward  Hill,  it  is  therefore  ordered  by  this  House, 
that  the  said  William  Hatcher,  upon  his  knees,  make  an  humble  acknow- 
ledgment of  his  offence  unto  the  said  Col.  Edward  Hill  and  Burgesses  of 
this  Assembly;  which  accordingly  was  performed,  and  then  he,  the  said 
Hatcher,  was  dismissed,  paying  his  fees/7 

The  above  shows  in  what  horror  an  atheist  was  then  held,  and 
what  a  reproach  it  was  to  have  such  a  one  in  a  public  office. 

I  also  promised  to  examine  further  into  the  history  of  the  Digges, 
supposing  them  to  belong  much  more  to  the  county  of  Warwick  than 
I  find  them  to  have  been.  Although  they  intermarried  with  the 
family  of  Cole,  and  some  of  them  were  Warwick  men,  yet,  for  the 
most  part,  they  lived  in  York  county.  Their  two  seats,  Chilham, 
near  Yorktown,  and  Bellfield,  some  miles  higher  up  the  river  and 
about  eight  miles  from  Williamsburg,  were  both  on  the  river.  The 
latter  is  just  opposite  to  Shelly,  on  the  Gloucester  side,  and  was  in 
the  parish  first  called  Chiskiack,  and  afterward  Hampton,  until  it  was 
merged  into  York-Hampton.  Captain  Smith,  in  his  history  of  the 
Colony  at  its  first  establishment,  speaks  of  King  Powhatan  as  being 
sometimes  with  this  tribe  of  Chiskiack  Indians.  He  had  only  to 
cross  the  river  from  his  residence  at  or  near  Shelly  to  Bellfield, 


244  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,   AND 

now  owned  by  Colonel  McCandish,  of  Williamsburg,  and  he  would 
be  in  the  midst  of  this  tribe.  Being  informed  that  Bellfield  was 
the  burial-place  of  the  Digges,  I  recently  spent  a  night  there  with 
Colonel  McCandlishandapart  of  his  family,  who  met  me  at  this — 
which  is  only  their  occasional — residence.  I  found  the  tombs  in 
much  better  order  than  at  most  of  the  old  family  graveyards. 
They  are  very  massive.  The  top-stones,  on  which  the  inscriptions 
are  put,  are  of  what  is  called  ironstone,  or  black  marble,  being  the 
hardest  and  heaviest  stone  in  England,  scarcely  less  heavy  than 
iron  itself.  Nearly  all  of  the  old  imported  tombs  are  of  this  kind. 
It  preserves  the  inscriptions  also  much  better  than  any  other  kind 
of  stone  or  marble.  The  following  are  the  inscriptions  : — 

i. 

"  To  the  memory  of  Edward  Digges,  Esquire,  sonne  of  Sir  Dudley 
Digges,  of  Chilham,  in  Kent.  Knight  and  Baronett,  Master  of  the  Rolls 
in  the  reign  of  King  Charles  the  1st.  He  departed  this  life  the  15th  of 
March,  1675,  in  the  55th  year  of  his  age,  one  of  his  Majesty's  Councill 
for  this  his  Colony  of  Va.  A  gentleman  of  most  commendable  parts  and 
ingenuity,  and  the  only  introducer  and  promoter  of  the  silk-manufacture 
in  this  Colonie,  and  in  every  thing  else  a  pattern  worthy  of  all  pious 
imitation.  He  had  issue  six  sonnes  and  seven  daughters  by  the  body  of 
Elizabeth  his  wife,  who  of  her  conjugal  affection  hath  dedicated  to  him 
this  memorial." 

II. 

This  is  to  the  memory  of  his  son  Dudley,  who  married  Miss 
Cole,  of  Denbigh: — 

"  Sub  hoc  marmore  requiescit  in  pace  Dudleus  Digges,  armiger,  Susannas 
Digges  juxta  depositge  maritus  amantissimus.  Vir  et  virtute,  et  pro  sapi- 
entia,  vere  inclytus,  qui  hujusce  Colonise  primo  Consilioris,  dein  ad  Audi- 
toris  dignitatem,  erectus  est.  Obiit,  omnibus  desideratus,  27  Januarii, 
1710,  aetatis  suae  47.  Justorum  animge  in  manu  Dei  sunt." 

Which  is  thus  rendered : — 

"  Under  this  marble  rests  in  peace  Dudley  Digges,  gentleman,  the  most 
loving  husband  of  Susannah  Digges,  buried  near  him.  He  was  a  man 
very  eminent  for  virtue  and  wisdom,  who  was  first  raised  to  the  dignity 
of  Councillor  and  then  Auditor  of  this  Colony.  He  died,  lamented  by 
all,  the  27th  of  January,  1710,  in  his  forty-seventh  year.  'The  souls  of 
the  righteous  are  in  the  hand  of  God.' " 

III.     THE    TOMB    OF    HIS    WIFE. 

"  Hie  subtus  inhumatum  corpus  Susannas  Digges,  filiae  Gulielmi  Cole, 
armigeri,  nee  non  Dudlei  Digges,  armigeri,  conjugis  fidelissimae,  quae  en 
hac  vita  decessit  9th  Kal.  Decembris,  anno  salutis  1708.  JEtatis  suae  34. 

IV. 

"This  monument  was  erected  by  Col.  Edward  Digges  to  the  memory 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  245 

of  a  most  indulgent  father,  the  Honble  Col.  Digges,  Esquire,  who  being 
many  years  one  of  his  Majesty's  Honble  Council  for  this  Colony,  and 
some  time  President  of  the  same,  died  in  the  53d  year  of  his  age,  and  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  1744. 

"Digges,  ever  to  extremes  untaught  to  bend; 
Enjoying  life,  yet  mindful  of  his  end. 
In  thee  the  world  an  happy  meeting  saw 
Of  sprightly  humour  and  religious  awe. 
Cheerful,  not  wild ;  facetious,  yet  not  mad ; 
Though  grave,  not  sour ;  though  serious,  never  sad. 
Mirth  came  not,  call'd  to  banish  from  within 
Intruding  pangs  of  unrepented  sin ; 
And  thy  religion  was  no  studied  art 
To  varnish  guilt,  but  purified  the  heart. 
What  less  than  a  felicity  most  rare 
Could  spring  from  such  a  temper  and  such  care  ? 
Now  in  the  city,  taking  great  delight, 
To  vote  new  laws,  or  old  interpret  right ; 
Now  crowds  and  business  quitting,  to  receive 
The  joys  content  in  solitude  can  give. 
With  equal  praise  thou  shone  among  the  great, 
And  graced  the  humble  pleasures  of  retreat ; 
Display'd  thy  dignity  on  every  scene, 
And  tempted  or  betray 'd  to  nothing  mean. 
Whate'er  of  mean  beneath  it  lies, 
The  rest  unstain'd  is  claimed4>y  the  skieft." 


246  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERSj  AND 


ARTICLE  XIX. 

Jjynnhaven  Parish,  Princess  Anne  County. 

CAPE  HENRY,  in  this  county  and  parish,  was  probably  the  first 
point  at  which  our  Virginia  Colonists  touched  on  reaching  America. 
Here  a  fort  was  established,  either  then  or  soon  after.  At  what 
time  other  settlements  were  made  on  the  coast  and  bay  surrounding 
this  part  of  Virginia  on  three  sides  cannot  certainly  be  determined, 
though  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  it  must  have  been  at  a  very 
early  period.  In  the  year  1642  we  find  Lynnhaven  parish  recog- 
nised as  existing,  and  its  boundaries  were  then  fixed.  How  long 
before  this  it  had  been  a  plantation,  or  congregation,  or  hundred, 
or  parish, — for  by  all  these  names  were  the  first  settlements  called, 
sometimes  long  before  parish-boundaries  were  fixed, — we  cannot 
ascertain.  The  following  is  the  Act  of  Assembly  which  establishes 
the  existence  of  this  and  other  parishes  in  the  year  1642-3: — "Be 
it  further  enacted  and  confirmed,  upon  the  petition  of  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Lynnhaven  parish,  by  the  Governor,  Council,  and  Bur- 
gesses of  this  Grand  Assembly,  that  the  parish  of  Lynnhaven  be 
bounded  as  follows."  The  bounds  are  then  stated.  After  which 
it  is  added: — "Provided  it  be  not  prejudicial  to  the  parishes  of 
Elizabeth  River  and  Southern  Shoare  by  taking  away  any  partes 
of  the  said  parishes."  Then  follow  certain  immunities  granted  to 
the  people  of  this  parish. 

The  following  interesting  account  of  the  first  church  and  grave- 
yard in  this  parish  will  very  properly  introduce  our  notices  of  it : — 

"There  is  much  that  is  curious,  at  least,  connected  with  the  Lynnhaven 
country,  besides  what  immediately  pertains  to  the  old  church,  of  which 
nothing  now  remains  but  the  mound  which  hardly  marks  the  spot.  I 
need  not  enter  into  the  details,  however. 

"The  church  itself  was  probably  built  by  the  earliest  settlers  in  this 
region,  upon  a  flat  surface  about  half  a  mile  from  Little  Creek,  which 
then  ran  east  and  west  in  a  narrow  channel,  separated  from  the  Chesa- 
peake or  Lynuhaven  Bay  by  a  sand-beach  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wide. 
The  creek  communicated  with  the  bay  through  an  inlet  about  thirty  yards 
wide,  and  distant  from  the  church  some  three  or  four  miles.  The  people 
living  on  Little  Creek  were  profitably  engaged  in  the  business  of  seine- 
hauling  ;  but  the  profits  were  much  reduced  by  the  distance  they  had  to 
go  by  water  through  the  inlet  to  the  bay  shore,  where  the  seines  were 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  247 

hauled.  To  go  and  return  by  water  required  six  miles,  whilst  to  reach 
the  fishery  across  the  sandy  beach  was  hardly  half  a  mile;  and  the  people, 
to  remedy  this  objection,  gathered  their  hands  together,  and,  with  their 
field-hoes,  opened  a  trench  across  the  beach  wide  enough  to  admit  the 
passage  of  a  canoe,  not  dreaming  of  any  consequences  beyond  their  im- 
mediate object.  The  moment,  however,  the  trench  was  opened,  the 
waters  of  the  bay,  probably  piled  up  by  an  easterly  wind  from  the  Atlan- 
tic, rushed  through  the  sandy  beach,  opening  what  is  now  the  mouth  of 
Lynnhaven,  and  passed  through  the  lower  lands  of  the  neighbourhood, 
not  stopping  until  they  had  run  beyond  what  is  now  known  as  London 
Bridge,  about  five  or  six  miles,  and  forming  in  their  mad  career  the  pre- 
sent beautiful  Lynnhaven  River,  which  varies  from  a  quarter  to  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  in  width.  This  invasion  of  the  waters  carried  away 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  burying-ground  attached  to  the  church,  which  it 
left  standing  on  the  bank  of  the  new-formed  river,  and  divided  the  church 
from  the  glebe-land,  which  now  lies  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  river,  and 
is  still  claimed  and  owned  by  the  vestry  of  Lynnhaven  parish ;  although 
the  overseers  of  the  poor,  it  is  said,  are  seeking  to  possess  themselves  of  it. 
"It  was  many  years  after  this  event  that  the  old  Donation  Church,  in 
its  neighbourhood,  was  built.  This,  in  its  turn,  has  been  abandoned  to 
the  beasts  and  bats ;  though  still  a  strong,  commodious  house,  built  of 
English  brick.  As  to  the  remains  of  the  Lynnhaven  Church,  they  are 
covered  with  large  trees  and  are  scarcely  discernible ;  but  the  writer  of  this 
note  has,  within  the  last  forty  years,  seen  the  bones  of  the  buried  parish- 
ioners protruding  from  the  sides  of  the  bank  of  the  river,  and  the  tomb- 
stones strewed  along  its  shores.  In  1819,  Commodore  Decatur  and  another 
eminent  person  still  living  were  bathing  there,  and  in  the  middle  of  the 
river  were  enabled,  by  feeling  with  their  toes,  to  decipher  the  names  of 
those  whose  graves  they  had  covered  before  the  waters  of  the  bay  had 
carried  away  the  churchyard.  These  stones  are  now  many  of  them  at  the 
bottom  of  the  stream ;  but,  although  the  water  is  not  more  than  five  or  six 
feet  deep,  they  are  so  covered  with  sand  and  marine  shells  that  it  would 
be  difficult  to  recover  them.  The  stones  which  fell  and  were  left  on  the 
shore  have  long  since  been  taken  away  by  the  fishermen  and  broken  up 
for  killicks,  or  anchors  for  their  small  boats,  and  for  other  purposes/' 

The  following  synopsis  of  the  contents  of  the  vestry-book  of 
Lynnhaven  parish  have  been  furnished  me  by  a  friend,  as  I  could 
not  have  access  to  the  record : — 

"  The  only  parish-record  known  in  this  county  commences  the  20th  of 
November,  1723,  on  which  occasion  were  present  the  Rev.  James  Tenant, 
minister;  Major  Max'n  Boush,  churchwarden;  and  the  following-named 
gentlemen,  who  composed  the  vestry: — Colonel  Edward  Moseley,  Captain 
Henry  Chapman,  Mr.  Win.  Elligood,  Captain  John  Moseley,  Mr.  Charles 
Sayer,  and  Captain  Francis  Lund.  It  appears  that  Mr.  Tenant  had  been 
the  minister  for  some  time  before;  but  when  he  entered  upon  his  duties, 
or  when  he  ceased  to  perform  them,  does  not  appear  upon  the  record.  Nor 
is  it  known  whether  he  died  in  the  service  of  the  Church  or  not.  No- 
thing is  said  of  him  after  the  3d  of  November,  1726,  on  which  day  his 
last  account  with  the  parish  was  settled,  showing  that  his  regular  salary 
had  been  sixteen  thousand  pounds  of  tobacco. 


248  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

"  Mr.  Jas.  Nimrao  is  mentioned  as  being  the  clerk  of  the  Brick  Church 
and  lower  chapel,  Mr.  Andrew  Peacock  being  the  clerk  of  the  upper  one. 

"At  the  first  meeting,  say  November  20,  1723,  the  parish  is  made  debtor 
to  Captain  Hillary  Moseley,  for  quitrents  of  glebe-land,  which  shows  that 
the  church  was  then  in  possession  of  the  glebe,  which  is  frequently  men- 
tioned throughout  the  record.  On  the  15th  September,  1724,  Major  Maxi- 
milian Boush  and  Mr.  John  Cormick  are  mentioned  as  churchwardens, 
and  the  names  of  Solomon  White,  John  Bolithor,  Captain  Anthony  Walke, 
Captain  Robert  Vaughan,  and  John  Bonney,  are  mentioned  as  constituting 
a  part  of  the  vestry.  At  this  meeting,  a  resolution  was  passed  for  building 
a  new  wooden  chapel  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  county;  and,  on  the 
7th  July,  1725,  an  order  was  passed  that  Captain  Robert  Vaughan,  one 
of  the  vestry,  should  employ  persons  to  repair  the  chapel  at  Machipungo, 
showing  that  a  brick  church  and  two  chapels  (one  on  the  Eastern  Shore, 
and  one  in  Pungo,  or  Machipungo)  were  then  in  possession  of  the  Epis- 
copalians of  Lynuhaven  parish,  which  seemed  to  embrace  the  whole  county 
of  Princess  Anne. 

"  On  the  2d  February,  1726,  about  nine  months  previous  to  the  settle- 
ment of  Mr.  Tenant's  account,  already  referred  to,  Mr.  Nicholas  Jones, 
minister,  was  engaged  to  preach  in  the  Brick  Church  and  Eastern  Shore 
Chapel  once  every  month,  and  he  was  allowed  four  hundred  pounds  of  to- 
bacco for  each  sermon;  and  with  this  engagement  he  appears  to  have  com- 
plied until  the  18th  October,  1728. 

"  The  Brick  Church,  already  mentioned,  was  very  old  at  that  time,  and 
in  a  dilapidated  state,  as  appears  from  the  frequent  orders  passed  by  the 
vestry  for  repairing  it,  and  from  the  fact  that  it  was  given  up  to  be  used 
as  a  school-house  on  the  2d  March,  1736,  as  appears  by  the  record.  It 
was  the  same  church,  no  doubt,  which  stood  on  the  western  bank  of  Lynn- 
haven  River,  on  what  was  then  called  Church  Point,  which  point  has  been 
washed  away  by  the  encroaching  tides,  leaving  nothing  scarcely  to  desig- 
nate the  spot  where  the  church  stood,  the  graveyard  which  was  annexed 
to  it  being  now  entirely  under  water  at  high  tide. 

"On  the  3d  June,  1728,  Mr.  James  Nimmo  was  employed,  on  a  mes- 
sage to  the  Governor,  for  removing  Mr.  Thomas  Bayly,  who  (contrary  to 
the  desire  of  the  vestry)  insisted  on  being  the  minister  of  the  parish;  and 
it  is  supposed  that  Mr.  Nimrno  succeeded,  after  a  second  application  to  the 
Governor,  as  no  further  notice  is  taken  of  it.  At  this  time,  the  names 
of  Christopher  Bourroughs,  Major  Anthony  Walke,  Major  Henry  Spratt, 
and  Mr.  George  Kempe,  are  mentioned  as  forming  a  part  of  the  vestry. 

"On  the  7th  January,  1729,  the  Rev.  Richard  Marsden  was  engaged 
to  preach  once  every  month,  at  the  church  and  chapels,  and  he  continued 
to  do  so  until  the  14th  November,  1729,  the  same  year  when  the  Rev. 
Henry  Barlow  was  engaged  as  the  regular  minister;  and  he  continued  to 
perform  the  duties  until  the  14th  October,  1747,  (about  eighteen  years,) 
after  which  he  is  not  mentioned. 

"On  the  29th  November,  1732,  Mr.  James  Nimmo  and  Mr.  William 
Keeling  were  engaged  as  clerks  to  the  church  and  chapel  for  one  year, 
and  to  receive  one  thousand  pounds  of  tobacco  each.  On  the  3d  Novem- 
ber, 1733,  an  order  was  made  that  Colonel  Anthony  Walke,  Captain 
Francis  Lund,  and  Captain  Jacob  Elligood,  or  any  two,  agree  with  Peter 
Malbone  on  terms  to  build  and  finish  the  new  church  near  the  ferry. 

"On  the  25th  of  June,  1736,  the  vestry  (having  given  up  the  Old  Brick 
Church,  on  the  2d  March  of  the  same  year,  to  be  used  as  a  school-house; 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  249 

which  has  been  already  stated)  received  from  the  contractor  and  builder, 
Mr.  Peter  Malbone,  the  'New  Church/  near  the  ferry,  as  it  was  then 
called,  but  which  has  been  better  known  since  as  the  'Donation  Church/ 
probably  from  the  circumstance  of  its  being  very  near  the  farm  donated 
to  Lynnhaven  parish  by  Parson  Dickson.  From  the  above  date,  say  25th 
June,  1736,  the  services  were  regularly  performed  by  Mr.  Barlow  in  the 
new  church,  until  the  close  of  his  ministry  in  1747. 

"On  the  13th  July,  1748,  the  Rev.  Robert  Dickson  being  minister,  the 
following  new  names  appear  among  the  vestry : — Major  Nathaniel  Newton, 
Mr.  Joseph  Gaskin,  James  Nimmo,  Major  Thomas  Walke,  and  John 
Whitehead. 

"The  Rev.  Robert  Dickson  continued  to  discharge  the  duties  of  minister 
until  the  23d  February,  1776, — nearly  twenty-eight  years, — at  a  salary  of 
sixteen  thousand  pounds  of  tobacco,  which  had  been  paid  to  the  regular 
ministers  who  preceded  him. 

"When  Parson  Dickson  died  is  not  known  exactly,  but  his  will  was 
admitted  to  record  on  the  14th  February,  1777,  in  which  he  gives  to  the 
parish  a  farm,  on  certain  conditions,  which  farm,  within  a  few  years,  has 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  overseers  of  the  poor,  the  glebe  referred  to 
having  been  sold  within  the  last  three  or  four  months. 

"There  appears  to  have  been  no  regular  minister  after  Mr.  Dickson 
until  1785,  and  the  church  and  chapels  were  much  neglected. 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  vestry  on  the  22d  November,  1779,  the  sum  of 
twenty  pounds  was  allowed  Anthony  Fentress  for  taking  care  of  Pungo 
Chapel.  This  chapel  has  not  been  used  by  the  Episcopalians  for  a  great 
many  years,  and  is  now  entirely  out  of  repair. 

"On  the  28th  March,  1785,  a  new  vestry  was  elected,  (under  an  Act 
of  Assembly,  passed  the  previous  session,  dissolving  the  former  vestries 
throughout  the  State,)  when  the  following  names  appear  as  composing  the 
new  vestry, — viz. :  Anthony  Walke,  Edward  H.  Moseley,  John  Ackiss, 
James  Henley,  William  White,  John  Cornick,  Joel  Cornick,  and  Francis 
Lund;  and,  on  the  6th  May,  1785,  the  Rev.  James  Simpson  was  inducted 
minister  of  the  parish,  and  continued  to  officiate  until  May,  1788,  when 
he  formally  resigned,  having  given  notice  of  his  intention  to  do  so  about 
four  months  previously. 

"On  the  3d  July,  1788,  the  Rev.  Anthony  Walke  was  inducted  minister, 
and  continued  to  discharge  the  duties  until  the  10th  of  October,  1800, 
when  he  formally  resigned.  Some  new  names  appear  here  among  the 
vestry, — viz. :  John  Hancock,  Peter  Singleton,  Cason  Moore,  and  Dennis 
Dawley. 

"On  the  1st  November,  1800,  the  Rev.  Cornelius  Calvert,  Jr.,  was  in- 
ducted minister,  but  served  a  short  time  only,  as  an  entry  on  the  book 
shows  that  there  was  no  minister  in  the  parish  on  the  18th  July,  1801. 

"On  the  llth  August,  1803,  the  Rev.  George  Halson  was  inducted 
minister,  and  discharged  his  duties  as  such  until  the  close  of  the  year 
1805. 

"At  this  time,  the  names  of  John  Smith,  Erasmus  Haynes,  James  Ro- 
binson, Thomas  Lawson,  George  D.  Corprew,  John  James,  and  William 
Boush,  appear  as  composing  the  vestry. 

"  The  parish  was  then  without  a  regular  minister  for  some  years,  being 
served  occasionally  and  irregularly  by  ministers  from  Norfolk. 

"On  the  28th  November,  1821,  the  Rev.  Robert  Prout  was  elected 
minister,  and  served  until  about  the  year  1824.  Thomas  Hoggard,  John 


250  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

Thorougood,  Henry  Keeling,  and  William  Shepherd,  having  been  elected 
to  fill  vacancies  in  the  vestry. 

"  On  the  7th  May,  1838,  the  Rev.  D.  M.  Fackler  was  elected,  and 
served  as  minister  until  the  8th  November,  1841. 

"On  the  llth  May,  1842,  the  Rev.  John  G.  Hull  was  elected,  but, 
being  in  very  delicate  health,  only  continued  to  discharge  the  duties  of 
minister  until  the  llth  March,  1843,  when  he  resigned.  By  his  influ- 
ence, however,  a  neat  little  brick  church  was  built  in  Kempsville,  called 
1  Enianuel  Church/  which  was  consecrated  by  Bishop  Meade,  on  the  27th 
November,  1843.  Since  its  erection,  no  services  have  been  performed  in 
the  'Donation  Church/  which  would  now  require  $1200  or  $1400  to  put 
it  in  order. 

"On  the  1st  November,  1846,  the  Rev.  Henry  C.  Lay  was  elected 
minister,  who  served  but  a  few  months. 

"In  July,  1848,  the  Rev.  Lewis  Walke  was  elected  minister,  and  con- 
tinued to  discharge  the  duties  about  four  years. 

"Nothing  of  consequence  appears  upon  the  record  since  that  time.  It 
closes  with  a  notice  of  a  meeting  held  in  March,  1856,  when  William  P. 
Morgan,  John  S.  Woodhouse,  Solomon  S.  Keeling,  A.  G.  Tebault,  and 
William  C.  Scott,  qualified  as  vestrymen  by  subscribing  their  names  in  due 
form." 

To  the  foregoing  it  may  be  added  that  the  Rev.  Robert  Gatewood, 
a  Deacon,  spent  a  part  of  the  last  year  in  this  parish.  I  must 
not  omit  to  take  special  notice  of  one  of  the  last  of  the  ministers 
who  officiated  in  this  parish, — the  Rev.  Mr.  Hull, — an  alumnus  of  our 
Seminary.  So  entirely  devoted  was  he  to  his  work  in  public  and 
in  private, — so  beloved  as  a  man  and  as  a  minister, — that  when, 
through  failing  health  being  unable  to  preach,  he  resigned  his 
charge,  the  people  refused  to  accept  it,  and  insisted  upon  his  con- 
tinuing their  minister ;  only  asking  such  private  intercourse  as  he 
could  carry  on  while  going  from  house  to  house.  Such  was  his  last 
year's  ministry  among  them.  Our  prospects  in  this  parish  are  now 
and  have  been  for  a  long  time  discouraging.  Formerly  this  was 
one  of  the  most  nourishing  parishes  in  Virginia.  Many  circum- 
stances have  concurred  to  promote  its  declension.  In  my  early- 
youth  I  remember  to  have  heard  my  parents  speak  of  it  as  having 
what  is  called  the  best  society  in  Virginia.  The  families  were  in- 
teresting, hospitable,  given  to  visiting  and  social  pleasures.  They 
whose  words  I  quote  had  some  experience  of  it.  Both  of  them 
were  by  marriage  connected  with  the  Rev.  Anthony  Walke,  whose 
mother  was  a  Randolph.  At  his  glebe  they  were  sometimes 
inmates.  The  social  glass,  the  rich  feast,  the  card-table,  the 
dance,  and  the  horse-race,  were  all  freely  indulged  in  through  the 
county.  And  what  has  been  the  result  ?  I  passed  through  the 
length  and  breadth  of  this  parish  more  than  twenty  years  ago,  in 
company  with  my  friend,  David  Meade  Walke,  son  of  the  old 


FAMILIES    OP  VIRGINIA.  251 

minister  of  the  parish,  who  was  well  acquainted  with  its  past  his- 
tory and  present  condition,  and  able  to  inform  me  whose  were  once 
the  estates  through  which  we  passed,  and  into  whose  hands  they 
had  gone;  who  could  point  me  to  the  ruins  of  family  seats 
which  had  been  consumed  by  fire;  could  tell  me  what  were  the 
causes  of  the  bankruptcy  and  ruin  and  untimely  death  of  those 
who  once  formed  the  gay  society  of  this  county.  Cards,  the  bottle, 
the  horse-race,  the  continual  feasts, — these  were  the  destroyers. 
In  no  part  of  Virginia  has  the  destruction  of  all  that  was  old  been 
greater.  But  let  us  hope  for  better  things,  and  strive  for  them  by 
the  substitution  of  honest  industry  for  spendthrift  idleness,  of  tem- 
perance for  dissipation,  of  true  piety  for  the  mere  form  of  it. 
Some  excellent  people,  doubtless,  there  always  were.  Their  num- 
ber has  increased  of  late  years.  Some  have  I  known  most  worthy 
of  esteem.  May  God  strengthen  the  things  that  remain,  though 
they  seem  ready  to  perish ! 


252  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 


ARTICLE  XX. 

Hungar's  Parish,  Northampton  County. 

NORTHAMPTON  was  originally  called  by  the  old  Indian  name  of 
Ackowmake  or  Accowmake.  In  the  year  1642  the  name  was 
changed  from  Accowmake  to  Northton  or  Northampton,  the  name 
of  a  county  in  England  from  whence  the  family  of  Robins  came, 
and  on  account  of  which  it  probably  received  this  name.  In  that 
same  year — 1642 — the  parish  was  divided,  all  below  King's  Creek  to 
Smith's  Island  being  one  parish,  afterward  called  Hungar's  parish, 
and  all  from  King's  Creek  to  Nuswattock  Creek  being  the  other, 
and  called  Nuswattocks  or  Nassawattocks  Church  or  parish.  Ac- 
cowmake was  one  of  the  original  shires  established  in  1634.  Being 
cut  off  from  the  mainland  by  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  the  passage 
being  difficult  and  dangerous,  it  was  permitted  for  a  considerable 
time  to  be  somewhat  independent  in  the  execution  of  the  laws,  no 
appeal  from  the  decision  of  its  authorities  to  the  higher  court  on 
the  other  side  of  the  bay  being  allowed,  except  for  great  causes. 
On  account  of  its  detached  position,  the  title  of  the  Colony  in  early 
writers  is  that  of  Virginia  and  Accomac.  This  independent 
condition  probably  contributed  to  something  like  a  rebellion  in 
the  time  of  Governor  Yeardley,  which  required  a  visit  from  him 
and  the  Council,  and  suitable  attendants,  in  order  to  its  suppression. 
In  this  suppression  Colonel  Scarborough  took  an  active  part. 

It  was  always  an  interesting  part  of  Virginia.  In  the  year 
1622,  when  the  great  massacre  of  the  Indians  took  place  in  all 
other  parts  of  the  State,  it  was  in  serious  contemplation  to  remove 
the  whole  colony  to  the  Eastern  Shore;  and  when,  in  Bacon's 
Rebellion,  Mr.  William  Berkeley  was  obliged  to  fly,  he  twice  found 
an  asylum  there.  Could  an  accurate  history  of  its  early  settle- 
ment and  of  the  chief  families  which  have  ever  since  been  living 
there,  and  of  the  old  churches  and  ministers,  have  been  preserved, 
perhaps  no  portion  of  the  State  would  have  furnished  a  more  inte- 
resting one ;  and  had  that  justice  been  done  to  the  culture  and 
improvement  of  its  soil,  and  the  use  of  its  many  advantages,  which 
now  has  begun  to  be  done,  few  parts  of  Virginia  would  have  been 
more  valuable.  In  one  remarkable  particular  it  has  retained  a 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  253 

I 

more  accurate  record  of  its  early  history  than  any  other  part  of 
the  State.  While  the  oldest  vestry-books  and  county-records  have 
been  burned  by  fire  or  lost  through  negligence,  the  proceedings 
of  the  court  of  Accomac,  from  1632,  ten  years  before  it  changed 
its  name,  and  yet  more,  before  it  was  divided  into  two  counties, 
have  been  preserved,  and  now  furnish  documents  from  which  to 
estimate  the  discipline  of  the  court  and  the  manners  of  the  people. 
A  friend,*  at  great  pains,  has  furnished  me  with  copious  extracts 
from  the  records  of  the  court  from  the  year  1632  to  1690,  and 
some  of  a  later  date,  out  of  which  I  shall  select  as  many,  and 
of  such  kind,  as  shall  best  suit  the  size  and  character  of  this 
work. 

Those  who  examine  these  records  are  struck  with  nothing  so 
much  as  the  penitentiary  discipline  which  they  exhibit,  more  like 
that  of  the  early  ages  than  is  to  be  found  in  Protestant  times  and 
countries.  As  we  have,  in  connection  with  certain  parishes,  taken 
up  some  special  topic  for  consideration,  as  those  of  induction  of 
ministers  and  the  Option  or  Two-penny  Act,  we  will,  before  entering 
on  the  statistics  of  this  parish,  very  briefly  consider  the  subject  of 
discipline  as  exhibited  in  the  early  history  of  the  Church  and  State 
of  Virginia.  We  have  already  alluded  more  than  once  to  the 
"laws  moral,  martial,  and  divine,"  which  were  introduced  under 
Governors  De  La  War,  Dale,  and  others  from  the  Low  Countries  of 
Europe,  where  they  were  in  use  among  the  armies  of  that  time, 
and  which  were  better  suited  for  a  rude  soldiery,  in  a  barbarous 
age,  than  for  the  Christian  Church  in  any  age.  We  have  said 
that  the  most  severe  of  those  enacted  against  heresy  and  blasphemy 
and  non-attendance  at  church  were  never  executed.  Mr.  Burke, 
whose  skeptical  principles  and  ill  opinion  of  Christians  cannot  be 
concealed,  is  forced  to  acknowledge  this. 

I  have  met  with  but  one  instance  of  the  infliction  of  that  most 
painful  punishment,  "the  running  of  an  awl  or  bodkin  through 
the  tongue;"  and  that  was  not  for  any  violation  of  the  laws  con- 
cerning religion,  but  for  a  sin  of  the  tongue,  in  uttering  a  base 
and  detracting  speech  against  Mr.  Hamar,  a  worthy  gentleman  of 
the  CounciPat  an  early  period  of  the  Colony.  The  guilty  person 
was  a  Mr.  Barnes,  of  Bermuda  Hundred,  who  was  sent  to  James- 
town for  trial,  and  condemned  "to  have  his  tongue  run  through 
with  an  awl,  to  pass  through  a  guard  of  forty  men,  and  to  be 
butted  by  every  one  of  them,  and  at  the  head  of  the  troop 

*  Mr.  Anderson,  of  Franktown. 


254  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

% 

knocked  down,  and  footed  <3ut  of  the  fort."     I  find  that,  for  the 
violation  of  the   seventh   and   ninth   commandments,  which  God 
himself  delivered  amidst  lightnings  and  thunders  from  Sinai,  the 
most  frequent  and  disgraceful   punishments  were   inflicted.      As 
to  slander,   the   bearing  false  witness   against  fellow-beings, — at 
the  early  period  of  the  Colony,  if  a  woman  was  convicted  of  it, 
her   husband  was   made  to  pay  five  hundredweight  of  tobacco; 
but,  this  law  proving   insufficient,  the  penalty  was  changed  into 
ducking,  and  inflicted  on  the  woman  herself.     Places  for  ducking 
were  prepared  at  the  doors  of  court-houses.     An  instance  is  men- 
tioned of  a  woman  who  was  ordered  to  be  ducked  three  times  from 
a  vessel  lying  in  James  River,  near  Bermuda  Hundred,  for  scold- 
ing.    No  doubt  she  was  notorious  for  it.     If  a  man  was  guilty 
of  slandering  a  minister,  he  was  required  to  pay  a  fine  of  five 
hundred  pounds  of  tobacco    and  ask  the  pardon  of  the  minister 
before   the    congregation.      Now,    however   we-  may  lament    and 
condemn    the    modes    which    were    sometimes    adopted    by   our 
ancestors   for   declaring   their   abhorrence    of    these    crimes    and 
seeking  to  banish  them  from  society,  we  must  do  them  the  justice 
to  acknowledge  that  it  was  evidence  in  them  of  a  hatred  of  sin 
and  irreligion,  and  of  a  desire  and  determination  to  punish  what 
was  offensive  to  God.     We  must  also  ever   make  due  allowance  for 
the  times  and  circumstances  in  which  laws  are  made  and  enforced. 
In  examining  the  early  history  of  Hungar's  parish,  we  find  that 
in  the  year  1633,  the  offence  of  slandering  the  first  minister,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Cotton,  was  punished  in  the  following  manner  : — "  Ordered 
by  the  court  that  Mr.  Henry  Charlton  make  a  pair  of  stocks  and 
set  in  them  several  Sabbath-days,  during  divine  service,  and  then 
ask  Mr.  Cotton's  forgiveness,   for  using  offensive  and  slanderous 
words  concerning  him."      In   the  year  1643    the    court  inflicted 
punishment  on  one  Richard  Buckland  for  writing  a  slanderous  song 
on  one  Ann  Smith,  ordering  that  "at  the  next  sermon  preached  at 
Nassawattocks,  he  shall  stand,  during  the  Lessons,  at  the  church- 
door,  with  a  paper  on  his  hat,  on  which  shall  be  written  '  Inimicus 
libellus,'  and  that  he    shall  ask    forgiveness  of  God,  and  also  in 
particular  of  the  said  defamed  Ann  Smith."     In  the  year  1647, 
Mr.  Palmer  being  minister  at  Nassawattocks,  the  churchwardens 
presented  two  persons  to  the  court,  which  ordered  them  to  stand 
in  the  church  during   the  service,  with  white    sheets    over   their 
shoulders  and  white  wands  in  their  hands.     In  the  year  1652  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Higby  is  brought  before  the  court  for  scandalous  speeches 
against  Major  Robins, — the  issue  of  it  not  being  mentioned.     In 


FAMILIES   OF   VIKGINIA.  255 

the  year  1664  Major  Robins  brought  suit  against  Mary  Powell  for 
scandalous  speeches  against  the  Rev.  Mr.  Teackle,  and  she  was 
ordered  to  receive  twenty  lashes  on  her  bare  shoulders,  and  to  be 
banished  the  county.  In  the  year  1664,  Captain  John  Custis 
being  High-Sheriff,  there  were  eight  presentments  for  violating  the 
seventh  commandment,  one  for  swearing,  one  for  not  attending 
church,  two  for  playing  cards  on  Sunday.  We  have  already  men- 
tioned that  a  few  Quakers  had  before  this  time  been  brought  before 
the  court  for  blasphemy  and  ordered  out  of  the  county.  It  is 
due  to  the  people  of  the  county  to  say  that  they  did  tolerate 
respectable  persons  of  that  sect  at  a  later  period.  Between  the 
years  1680  and  1690  there  were  such  living  quietly  and  unmolested 
in  that  region.  It  is  on  record  that  "  Thomas  Brown  and  his  wife, 
though  Quakers,  were  yet  of  such  known  integrity  that  their  affir- 
mation was  received  instead  of  an  oath."  That  the  citizens  of 
the  Eastejn  Shore  were  not  cruel  and  bloodthirsty  may  be  inferred 
from  the  fact  that  the  first  capital  punishment  was  inflicted  in  the 
year  1693.  The  above-mentioned  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brown  were  the 
ancestors  of  that  large  and  respectable  family  of  Upshurs  which 
have  since  been  spread  over  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Virginia.  The 
old  family  seat,  called  Brownsville,  on  the  sea-shore  of  Northampton, 
still  in  possession  of  an  Upshur,  was  the  ancient  residence  of  the 
Browns,  who  were  there  visited  by  some  of  the  more  eminent 
Friends  from  Philadelphia,  who  came  to  have  fellowship  with  them 
in  their  peculiar  mode  of  worship. 

Before  attempting  a  list  of  the  names  of  the  ministers  and  a 
notice  of  the  churches,  I  will  mention  a  few  things  reflecting  credit 
on  a  few  individuals.  The  first  notice  is  due  to  Mr.  Stephen 
Charlton,  who,  in  the  year  1653,  bequeathed  the  glebe  which  has 
so  long  been  the  subject  of  dispute  between  the  Episcopalians  of 
Northampton  and  the  overseers  of  the  poor.  I  find  honourable 
mention  of  Mr.  Charlton  in  the  account  given  by  Colonel  Norwood 
in  his  visit  to  the  Eastern  Shore  in  the  year  1649.  Being  on  a 
voyage  from  England  to  Virginia,  he  and  his  company  were  cast 
away  on  one  of  the  islands  in  the  ocean.  After  remaining  there 
more  than  a  week,  they  were  conducted  by  some  friendly  Indians  to 
the  main  land,  and  found  their  way  to  Captain  Charlton's  hospitable 
abode.  "  When  I  came  to  the  house  of  one  Stephen  Charlton^  he 
not  only  did  outdo  all  that  I  had  visited  before  him,  in  variety  of 
dishes  at  his  table,  which  was  very  well  ordered  in  the  kitchen,  but 
would  also  oblige  me  to  put  on  a  good  farmer-like  suit  of  his  wear- 
ing-clothes for  exchange  of  my  dirty  habit;  and  this  gave  me 


256  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

opportunity  to  deliver  my  camlet  coat  to  JaTce,  for  the  use  of  my 
brother  of  Kickotanke,  [the  Indian  chief  who  had  been  kind  to 
them,]  with  other  things  to  make  it  worth  his  acceptance."  Mr. 
Charlton  was  not  only  a  hospitable  but  a  pious  man,  if  we  may 
judge  from  the  language  and  bequests  of  his  will.  After  some 
expressions  showing  that  he  had  just  views  of  a  Saviour,  he  divides 
his  property  equally  between  his  wife  and  two  daughters,  Elizabeth 
and  Bridget,  whom  he  directs  to  be  educated  in  a  godly  manner, 
and  to  be  under  guardians  until  the  age  of  fourteen.  Should 
Bridget,  the  eldest,  die  without  children,  her  share  was  to  be  given 
to  the  church  in  Northampton,  for  the  support  of  the  minister. 
She  married  a  Mr.  Foxcroft,  a  worthy  man,  and  until  his  death  a 
vestryman  of  the  church.  They  both  lived  to  a  good  old  age,  and, 
dying  childless,  the  father's  will  was  readily  complied  with.  The 
glebe,  consisting  of  fifteen  or  sixteen  hundred  acres  of  the  best 
land  in  the  county,  has  been  in  possession  of  the  vestry  ever  since 
her  death,  though  the  overseers  of  the  poor  have  for  some  time 
been  endeavouring  to  take  it  from  them.  The  other  daughter, 
Elizabeth,  while  at  school,  and  only  twelve  years  of  age,  was  per- 
suaded to  elope  with  a  Mr.  Getterrings,  and,  being  unable  to  get  a 
license  on  that  side  of  the  bay,  they  came  over  to  the  western,  and 
contriving,  by  some  artifice,  to  evade  the  laws,  were  married.  She 
soon  died,  and  the  husband  sought  to  recover  the  estate  to  himself. 
It  was  carried  into  court.  A  Colonel  Scarborough,  ancestor  of 
those  bearing  that  name,  prepared  an  address  to  the  court  in 
writing,  setting  forth  the  iniquity  of  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Getter- 
rings,  especially  and  emphatically  dwelling  on  the  right  of  every 
man  to  dispose  of  his  property  according  to  his  own  will, — an  argu- 
ment which  may,  with  mighty  power,  be  used  in  the  case  of  the 
other  child's  property  also,  since  nothing  can  be  clearer  than  that 
Mr.  Charlton's  desire  and  intention  was  to  leave  her  property,  if 
dying  without  issue,  to  the  Episcopal  Church  of  Northampton,  or 
in  a  certain  event  to  one  of  his  relatives. 

In  the  year  1689,  I  read  of  the  death  of  Colonel  John  Stringer. 
His  will  indicates  just  views  and  feelings  on  the  great  subject  of 
man's  redemption.  In  the  preamble  he  says,  "  I  bequeath  my 
soul  to  God,  who  first  gave  it  me,  Father,  Son,  and  Spirit,  Unity 
in  Trinity,  Trinity  in  Unity,  who  hath  redeemed  and  preserved 
me,  in  and  through  Jesus  Christ,  who  died  for  my  sins  and  the  sins 
of  all  people  that  truly  and  unfeignedly  believe  in  him,  for  whose 
sake  and  loving-kindness  I  hope  to  obtain  everlasting  life ;  where- 
fore, dear  Father,,  have  mercy  on  my  soul."  Among  other  legacies, 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  257 

he  leaves  one  thousand  pounds  of  tobacco  to  have  the  Lord's  Prayer 
and  Commandments  put  up  in  the  new  church  about  to  be  built  in 
the  lower  part  of  Northampton.  He  also  forbids  all  drinking  and 
shooting  at  his  funeral,  as  things  altogether  unbecoming  the 
occasion. 

I  may  also  mention  the  fact  of  Major  Custis,  who  lived  some 
time  in  Williamsburg  and  married  a  daughter  of  Colonel  Daniel 
Parke,  presenting  sets  of  heavy  silver  Communion-service  to  both 
the  churches,  upper  and  lower,  of  Northampton ;  and  when  the 
lower  church  was  built,  in  1680,  near  which  was  his  residence,  he 
promised  to  give  the  builder  one  hogshead  of  tobacco,  or  its  equi- 
valent, and  thirty  gallons  of  cider,  to  put  up  for  him  the  first  pew 
(the  best,  I  suppose)  in  the  church.  Several  other  donations  might 
be  mentioned.  Let  these  suffice. 

We  now  proceed  to  speak  of  the  ministers  and  churches  of 
Northampton.  It  is  somewhat  difficult  to  determine  their  order 
with  accuracy,  from  the  fact  that  there  were  from  the  year  1642 
two  parishes, — the  upper  and  lower, — divided  as  we  have  already 
said,  and  the  ministers  and  people  responsible  to  the  one  civil  court, 
from  whose  records  we  get  our  information.  We  shall  not  be  very 
anxious  to  decide  this  point,  it  being  of  little  consequence. 

Mr.  Cotton  is  the  first  minister  of  whom  we  find  notices  on  the 
records  of  the  court.  He  is  often  named  therein  from  1633  on- 
ward, as  bringing  suits  for  his  tithes.  We  read  of  a  Mr.  Cams, 
or  Cams,  who  received  one  hundred  pounds  of  tobacco  for  preach- 
ing a  funeral  sermon  in  the  parish  of  Mr.  Cotton.  We  read  also 
of  John  Rodger s,  Thomas  Higby,  Francis  Loughty,  Thomas 
Palmer,  John  Almoner,  Thomas  Teackle.  Thomas  Teackle  was 
the  first  minister  of  the  upper  church.  Mr.  Higby  was  then 
minister  of  the  lower.  All  of  them,  with  the  exception  of  Mr. 
Teackle,  served  but  a  short  time,  and  the  records  show  many  suits 
for  their  salaries.  Mr.  Teackle  had  his  difficulties  also,  and  to  the 
end  of  his  life  sought  his  dues  in  a  legal  way.  He  seems  to  have 
acquired  much  property  in  land.  Though  fiercely  assailed  as  to 
his  moral  character,  in  one  instance  by  Colonel  Scarborough,  he 
seems  to  have  retained  the  confidence  of  the  people. 

About  the  year  1660,  settlements  had  spread  themselves  up  the 
neck,  toward  Pungoteage,  so  as  to  call  for  a  church  and  other 
public  buildings.  In  the  year  1662,  the  county  of  Accomac  was 
formed.  Of  these  things  we  shall  treat  in  our  next  article. 

In  the  year  1676,  we  find  a  Rev.  Mr.  Key  the  minister  of  the 
lower  parish.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Teackle,  we  presume,  was  still  the 

17 


258  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

minister  of  the  upper ;  for  we  find,  in  1689,  he  recovered  twenty 
thousand-weight  of  tobacco  from  the  vestry.  A  Kev.  Mr.  Rich- 
ardson preceded  Mr.  Key,  but  it  seems  he  was  not  an  orthodox 
minister ;  that  is,  one  regularly  ordained  by  an  English  Bishop ; 
for  such  was  the  use  of  the  word  orthodox  at  that  time.  From 
necessity, — the  great  difficulty  of  getting  such, — the  vestries  some- 
times employed  those  who  were  not  Episcopally  ordained.  An 
opportunity  offering  to  get  an  Episcopal  minister  of  good  charac- 
ter, they  dismissed  Mr.  Richardson,  and  wrote  to  the  Governor, 
Sir  "William  Berkeley,  to  induct  Mr.  Key.  The  Governor  readily 
complied,  and,  being  well  acquainted  with  Mr.  Key,  recommended 
him  highly. 

In  the  year  1691,  a  petition  was  made  to  the  Assembly  to  unite 
the  two  parishes  of  Northampton,  on  the  ground  that  they  were 
unable,  each  of  them,  to  give  such  a  support  as  would  secure  an 
able  minister  and  build  a  good  church.  The  petition  was  granted, 
and  the  two  merged  in  one,  and  called  Hungar's  parish.  It  was 
after  this,  I  presume,  that  the  large  church  at  Hungar's  was  built.* 
In  the  following  year,  Mr.  John  Monroe  was  the  minister  of  the 
united  parishes.  Of  him  we  read  in  some  of  the  convocations  of 
the  ministers  in  Williamsburg. 

In  the  year  1703,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Collier  was  minister.  He  mar- 
ried a  widow  Kendal,  who  had  previously  made  an  assault  on  some 
one  in  church,  and  was  afterward  presented  in  court  for  cursing 
and  swearing. 

Mr.  Foxcroft  died  in  1702,  leaving  all  his  property  to  his  wife, 
Bridget,  who  died  two  years  after,  and  fifty  years  after  her  father's 
death.  Being  childless,  the  glebe-land,  by  his  will,  was  the  pro- 
perty of  the  church. 

In  the  year  1712,  the  Rev.  Patrick  Falconer  is  minister,  and  con- 
tinues so  until  1718,  when,  after  having  given  much  to  the  poor, 
he  left  his  property  to  his  brother  James,  in  London,  and  desired 
that  his  body  be  buried  before  the  pulpit  in  Old  Hungar's  Church. 
The  Rev.  Thomas  Dell  was  then  minister  until  the  year  1729. 
Then  John  Holbroke  to  1747.  The  Rev.  Edward  Barlow  probably 
succeeded  him,  and  died  in  1761.  Then  the  Rev.  Richard  Hewett, 
who  died  in  1774 ;  and  in  that  year  the  Rev.  Mr.  McCoskry  was 
chosen,  who  died  its  minister  in  the  year  1803.  He  married  a 


*  I  am  informed  by  one  now  living  that  there  were,  as  late  as  1809,  the  remains 
of  a  fine  organ  in  Hungar's  Church.  "It  was  entirely  broken  up  by  ruthless  hands, 
and  the  lead  and  other  parts  used  for  sacrilegious  purposes." 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  259 

daughter  of  John  Bowdoin,  of  Virginia.  They  died  childless.* 
Mr.  McCoskry  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gardiner.  The 
Rev.  Thomas  Davis  followed  him,  and  was  followed  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Symes.  In  the  year  1820,  the  Rev.  Simon  Wilmer 
appears  on  the  vestry-book  as  minister,  and  so  continued  until 
1823.  Stephen  S.  Gunter  was  elected  in  1824,  and  continued 
until  his  death,  in  1835.  W.  G.  Jackson  was  elected  in  1836,  and 
resigned  in  1841.  J.  P.  Wilmer  was  elected  in  1841,  and  resigned 
in  1843.  John  Ufford  was  elected  in  1843,  and  resigned  in  1850. 
James  Rawson  was  elected  in  1850,  and  died  in  1854.  John  M. 
Chevers  was  chosen  in  1855,  and  is  the  present  rector. 

The  following  is  the  list  of  vestrymen  since  1712 : — Peter  Bow- 
doin, John  Eyre,  Nathaniel  Holland,  John  Addison,  John  Goffigan, 
John  Upshur,  John  Winder,  Littleton  Upshur,  George  Parker, 
William  Satchell,  Thomas  Satchell,  S.  Pitts,  Jacob  Nottingham, 
Isaac  Smith,  John  T.  Elliott,  J.  H.  Harmonson,  James  Upshur,  Abel 
P.  Upshur,  W.  Danton,  Charles  West,  W.  G.  Smith,  John  Leather- 
bury,  Severn  E.  Parker,  John  Ker,  T.  N.  Robins,  N.  J.  Winder, 
Major  Pitts,  G.  F.  Wilkins,  Simkins,  Fisher,  Evans,  Bell,  Adams, 
Nicholson.f  One  generous  act  of  him  who  stands  second  on  the 


*  A  Rev.  Mr.  Seward,  who  went  afterward  to  the  Northern  Neck,  was  his  as- 
sistant. 

f  By  going  back  a  century  and  a  half,  and  then  coming  down  the  records,  we 
meet  with,  as  acting  in  the  vestries  and  courts,  the  names  of  Scarborough,  Robins, 
Littleton,  Charlton,  Severn,  Custis,  Yeardley,  (son  of  Governor  Yeardley,)  Kendal, 
Purnell,  Waltham,  Claybourn,  Andrews,  Wise,  Foxcroft,  Parker,  Eyre,  Upshur, 
Hack,  West,  Vaughan,  Preston,  Marshall,  Burton,  Stith,  John  Bowd&n.  Concerning 
the  ancestors  of  the  latter,  something  more  particular  will  be  interesting  to  the 
reader.  I  take  it  from  an  address  of  the  Hon.  Robert  Winthrop,  of  Boston,  de- 
livered before  the  Maine  Historical  Society  at  Bowdoin  College,  at  the  annual  com- 
mencement of  1849.  The  first  of  the  family  who  came  to  America  was  Pierre 
Boudouin,  a  French  Huguenot,  who,  driven  from  France,  first  settled  in  Ireland, 
then,  with  a  wife  and  four  children,  came  to  Casco,  in  Maine.  Of  him  Mr.  Win- 
throp says,  "  He  was  one  of  that  noble  sect  of  Huguenots  of  whom  John  Calvin 
may  be  regarded  as  the  great  founder  and  exemplar ;  of  which  Gaspard  De  Coligny, 
the  generous  and  gallant  admiral  who  filled  the  kingdom  of  France  with  the  glory 
and  terror  of  his  name  for  the  space  of  twelve  years,  was  one  of  the  most  devoted 
disciples  and  one  of  the  most  lamented  martyrs,  and  which  has  furnished  to  our 
land  blood  everyway  worthy  of  being  mingled  with  the  best  that  has  ever  flowed 
in  the  veins  of  either  Southern  Cavaliers  or  Northern  Puritans.  He  was  of  that 
noble  stock  which  gave  three  presidents  out  of  five  to  the  old  Congress  of  the  Con- 
federation, which  gave  her  her  Lawrences  and  Marions,  her  Hugers  and  Manigalts, 
her  Prioleaus,  and  Galliards,  and  Legares  to  South  Carolina;  which  gave  her  Jays  to 
New  York,  her  Boudinots  to  New  Jersey,  her  Brimmers,  her  Dexters,  and  her  Peter 
Faneuil,  with  the  cradle  of  liberty,  to  Massachusetts."  Pierre  Boudouin  escaped 


260  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

% 

foregoing  list  deserves  a  mention.  Besides  being  always  most 
liberal  to  the  minister  and  to  all  the  wants  of  the  church,  and 
most  punctual  at  the  meetings  of  the  vestry  and  at  church,  for  a 
long  series  of  years,  toward  the  close  of  his  life  Mr.  John  Eyre 
gave  the  sum  of  three  thousand  dollars  for  the  erection  of  that 
model  parsonage  which  may  be  seen  a  mile  from  Eastville,  and 
from  which  the«  great  Atlantic  may  be  surveyed.  To  Dr.  W.  Gr. 
Smith,  the  faithful  lay-reader  and  vestryman  of  so  many  years, 
and  the  active  friend  of  the  church  in  so  many  ways,  the  church 

from  the  place  of  his  first  settlement,  the  fort  at  Casco,  in  1690,  only  a  few  hours 
before  it  was  sacked  and  its  inhabitants  generally  massacred  by  the  Indians,  and 
removed  to  Boston.  Dying  shortly  after,  he  left  his  family  to  the  care  of  his  eldest 
son  James,  then  seventeen  years  of  age,  who,  besides  providing  for  it,  amassed  the 
largest  fortune  then  possessed  by  any  one  person  in  Massachusetts.  He  left  two 
sons  ;  the  youngest,  James  Bowdoin,  (the  name  being  now  changed  from  Boudouin,) 
was  the  friend  and  compatriot  of  Washington  and  Franklin,  delighting  in  the  same 
philosophical  pursuits  with  the  latter,  and  agreeing  and  acting  with  both  in  the 
great  political  movements  of  the  day.  He  was  a  man  of  high  moral  and  religious 
character,  which,  together  with  his  patriotism  and  statesmanship,  made  him  for  a 
long  time  the  first  man  in  the  commonwealth  of  Massachusetts.  But  for  his  own 
and  Mrs.  Bowdoin's  ill-health,  he  would  have  been  in  that  Congress  which  signed 
the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

A  daughter  of  Mr.  Bowdoin  married  a  Mr.  Temple,  who,  though  born  in  Boston, 
was  of  an  old  English  family  and  inherited  a  title.  Into  this  family  of  Temples, 
a  Mr.  Robert  Nelson,  of  England,  married,  previous  to  their  emigration  to  America. 
Hence  the  names  and  families  of  Temples  and  Nelsons  in  Massachusetts.  It  may 
be  that  those  in  Virginia  and  Massachusetts  are  derived  from  the  same  English 
stock.  The  ancestor  of  the  Bowdoins — Pierre  Boudouin — was  godfather  to  Peter 
Faneuil,  the  donor  of  Faneuil  Hall,  Boston.  His  great-grandson,  James  Bowdoin, 
son  of  the  Revolutionary  patriot,  was  also  a  distinguished  man,  not  only  holding  a 
seat  in  both  branches  of  the  Legislature,  but  being  sent  as  minister  to  the  Courts 
of  France  and  Spain.  He  died  without  children,  and  was  the  founder  of  Bowdoin 
College,  Massachusetts.  One  of  the  grandsons  of  Pierre  Boudouin — John — removed 
to  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Virginia,  at  the  beginning  of  the  last  century.  It  is  said  that 
his  relative,  the  founder  of  Bowdoin  College,  offered  to  adopt  his  son  Peter  if  he 
would  change  his  name,  but  that  the  offer  was  declined.  His  grandson,  Peter 
Bowdoin,  has  succeeded  to  his  father's  and  grandfather's  place  as  vestryman  in 
Northampton.  One  sister  married  Professor  George  Tucker,  of  the  University  of 
Virginia ;  another,  Dr.  Smith,  of  Eastville,  Northampton.  Two  brothers  are 
living  in  Baltimore.  All  of  the  Bowdoins — now  pronounced  Bodens — of  Virginia 
are  of  this  family,  and,  so  far  as  I  know  and  believe,  have  belonged  to  the  Epis- 
copal Church.  Their  first  ancestor,  Pierre  Boudouin,  it  is  presumed,  was  of  that 
Church,  as  he  was  godfather  to  Mr.  Faneuil's  child.  The  Winthrops  and  Lloyds  of 
Boston  were  also  connected  with  the  Temples  and  Bowdoins. 

[Since  the  above  was  written  and  published  in  its  first  form,  a  letter  from  a  friend 
says  that  I  am  mistaken  in  supposing  that  the  John  Boudouin  who  came  to  Virginia 
was  the  grandson  of  Pierre  Boudouin,  of  Boston,  and  is  confident  that  he  was  his 
son.  Not  having  in  possession  Mr.  Winthrop's  pamphlet,  I  cannot  re-examine  it. 
That  document  will  correct  my  error  if  I  have  made  one.] 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  261 

is  indebted,  not  only  for  the  judicious  planning  of  it,  but  for  one 
year's  devotion  of  almost  all  his  time  and  attention  to  the  erection 
of  it,  and  of  all  the  surrounding  improvements. 

The  Episcopal  congregation  of  Northampton  is  now,  and  has 
been  for  a  long  time,  a  deeply-interesting  one.  Its  peace  and 
happiness,  however,  has  been  much  marred  for  many  years  by  a 
painful  and  protracted  controversy  with  the  overseers  of  the  poor 
concerning  the  glebe.  More  than  two  hundred  years  ago  the 
worthy  and  pious  Charlton,  in  view  of  his  approaching  dissolution, 
and  in  the  event  of  one  of  his  two  daughters  dying  childless,  left 
a  portion  of  that  earth,  which  is  all  the  Lord's,  for  the  perpetual 
support  of  the  Church  of  his  fathers,  and  of  that  religion  which 
had  been  his  happiness  in  life,  and  was  now  to  be  his  consolation 
in  death. 

He  did  this  in  the  exercise  of  a  right  recognised  by  God  himself 
in  the  law  of  his  word,  and  secured  to  men  by  the  laws  of  every 
government  on  earth, — the  right  of  disposing  of  our  property  by 
will.  It  pleased  that  God,  who  put  it  into  the  heart  of  his  servant 
thus  to  will  a  portion  of  his  property,  to  cause  that  contingency  to 
happen  on  which  the  bequest  to  the  Church  depended.  He  with- 
held the  blessing  of  children  from  the  daughter,  and  so  ordained 
that  the  church  of  Northampton  should  be  her  heir.  At  her  death 
that  church  took  quiet  possession  of  it,  and  long  enjoyed  it.  The 
Legislature  of  Virginia,  both  under  the  Colonial  Government  and 
since  our  independence,  has  by  several  acts  ratified  her  claim.  But, 
after  a  long  period  of  acquiescence  in  the  church's  right,  the  over- 
seers of  the  poor,  under  that  act  of  the  Legislature  which  had 
never  before  been  suspected  of  embracing  this  case,  determined  to 
claim  it,  and  actually  did  sell  it,  conditionally,  at  public  auction.* 
The  question  was  brought  before  the  Legislature,  and  a  sanction 
for  the  sale  sought  for ;  but  it  was  dismissed  as  unreasonable.  The 
question  was  taken  before  a  court  of  law,  and  twice  decided  in 
behalf  of  the  church.  An  appeal,  however,  has  been  taken  from 
the  last  decision  to  a  higher  court,  and  when  the  vexatious  suit 
will  be  decided,  no  one  can  tell.  Years  have  already  been  passed 
in  painful  controversy.  Great  have  been  the  expenses  to  the 
church,  and  much  the  loss  in  various  ways  which  has  been  sus- 
tained. The  peace  of  the  county  has  been  much  impaired  by 

*  Soon  after  the  passage  of  the  Act  the  servants  belonging  to  the  farm  and  the 
other  glebe  in  the  county,  which  properly  came  under  the  Act,  were  disposed  of  by 
the  proper  authorities ;  but  this  was  not  touched. 


262  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

it.  Political  questions,  and  election  to  civil  offices,  have  been 
mixed  up  with  it,  and  Christians  of  different  denominations 
estranged  from  and  embittered  toward  each  other.  Surely,  when 
our  Legislators  reserved  all  private  donations  from  the  operation 
of  the  law  which  ordered  the  sale  of  glebes,  if  this  case  could  have 
been  presented  to  them,  and  they  been  asked  whether  it  could  come 
under  the  sentence  of  it,  the  bitterest  enemies  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  and  the  most  unbelieving  foes  of  our  religion,  would  have 
shrunk  with  horror  from  the  mere  suggestion.  May  God  overrule 
it  all  for  good  ! 

A  friend  on  the  Eastern  Shore,  whose  delight  is  in  searching  its 
ancient  records,  has  sent  me  a  full  account  of  the  Custis  family, 
which  so  abounds  in  that  part  of  the  State.  Its  name  and  blood 
are  intermingled  with  those  of  most  of  the  families  of  Northamp- 
ton and  Accomac,  whether  rich  or  poor.  I  give  a  brief  statement 
of  it.  The  name  of  John  Custis  first  appears  on  the  record  in 
1640.  It  is  probable  that  he  was  the  person  of  whom  Colonel 
Norwood  speaks,  in  his  account  of  his  voyage  to  America  and 
shipwreck  on  the  Eastern  Shore  in  1649,  as  having  been  a  hotel- 
keeper  in  Rotterdam  and  a  great  favourite  with  English  travellers. 
He  had  six  sons  and  one  daughter.  The  daughter  married  Colonel 
Argal  Yeardley,  son  of  Governor  Yeardley,  of  Virginia.  His 
sons  were  John,  William,  Joseph,  who  were  in  Virginia,  Thomas, 
who  was  in  Baltimore,  (Ireland,)  Robert,  who  resided  in  Rotterdam, 
and  Edmund,  who  lived  in  London.  The  family  is  of  Irish  descent. 
John  appears  to  have  taken  the  lead.  He  was  an  active,  enter- 
prising man,  engaged  in  making  salt  on  one  of  the  islands ;  fore- 
most in  all  civil  and  ecclesiastical  matters ;  was,  in  1676,  during 
Bacon's  Rebellion,  appointed  Major-General ;  a  true  royalist ;  a 
law-and-order  man ;  a  favourite  of  Lord  Arlington  in  the  time  of 
Charles  II.,  after  whom  he  called  his  estate  Arlington,  on  the 
Eastern  Shore,  which  he  received  by  his  first  wife.  His  second 
wife  was  daughter  of  Colonel  Edmund  Scarborough.  He  died  at 
an  advanced  age,  after  having  been  full  of  labours  through  life. 
He  had  only  one  son,  whom  he  named  John.  This  John  Custis 
had  numerous  children,  whose  descendants,  together  with  those  of 
his  uncle,  William  Custis,  have  filled  the  Eastern  Shore  with  the 
name.  His  son  John,  being  the  fourth  of  that  name,  after  being 
educated  in  England,  received  from  his  grandfather  the  Arlington 
estate.  He  was  the  John  Custis  who  moved  to  Williamsbursr  and 

o 

married  the  daughter  of  Colonel  Daniel  Parke,  and  was  the  father 
of  him  whose  widow  married  General  Washington.  His  tomb  is 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  263 

at  the  Arlington  House,  in  Northampton,  and  its  inscription  one 
of  the  curiosities  of  the  Eastern  Shore.  It  is  plainly  to  he  in- 
ferred from  it  that  he  was  not  very  happy  in  his  matrimonial  rela- 
tions ;  for  it  says  that  he  only  lived  seven  years, — those  seven 
which  he  spent  as  a  bachelor  at  Arlington.  His  wife,  it  is  to  be 
feared,  was  too  much  like  her  brother,  and  unlike  her  father,  both 
of  whom  were  spoken  of  in  one  of  our  articles  on  Williamsburg. 


264  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 


ARTICLE  XXI. 

Parishes  in  Accomac. 

AT  the  first,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  article  on  Northampton,  the 
whole  of  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Virginia  was  called  Accowmake; 
then  changed  to  Northampton;  then  divided  into  Northampton 
and  Accomac.  Soon  after  this,  in  the  year  1762,  the  county  of 
Accomac  was  divided  into  two  parishes,  by  a  line  running  from  the 
bay  to  the  sea,  the  upper  being  called  Accomac  parish,  and  the 
other  St.  George's.  The  dividing-line  runs  about  three  miles  north 
of  Drummondtown. 

From  a  record  in  the  Clerk's  Office  in  Northampton  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  the  church  at  Pongoteague  was  built  before 
the  division  of  the  Eastern  Shore  into  two  counties,  and  was  the 
first  erected  in  Accomac.  The  next  was  that  which  stood  a  few 
miles  from  Drummondtown,  and  was,  until  the  year  1819,  called 
the  New  Church.  At  that  time  the  name  of  St.  James's  was  given 
to  it.  It  was  subsequently  removed  to  Drummondtown,  and  now 
forms  the  church  in  that  place.  In  the  year  1724,  there  were 
three  churches  in  the  upper  parish,  (Accomac,)  about  ten  miles 
distant  from  each  other.  The  first  minister  of  whom  we  read  in 
this  parish  was  the  Rev.  William  Black,  who,  in  the  year  1709-10, 
wrote  to  the  Bishop  of  London  that  he  had  taken  charge  of  it, — 
that  there  had  been  no  minister  there  before  for  fifteen  years.  In 
the  year  1724  he  is  still  the  minister;  and,  in  answer  to  certain 
questions  by  the  Bishop  of  London,  writes,  that  he  preaches  at 
these  churches,  has  twa  hundred  communicants,  four  or  five  hun- 
dred families  under  his  charge,  instructs  the  negroes  at  their  mas- 
ters' houses,  has  baptized  two  hundred  of  them,  catechizes  the 
children  on  Sunday  from  March  to  September,  has  no  Communion- 
service  or  any  thing  decent  in  his  church,  receives  a  salary  of  forty 
pounds  per  annum,  (that  being  the  value  of  his  tobacco,)  rents  his 
glebe  for  twenty  shillings  per  annum,  has  a  school  in  his  parish, 
endowed  by  one  Mr.  Sanford,  of  London,  and  which  is  still  in 
existence.* 

*  The  attention  paid  to  the  servants  by  Mr.  Black  is  deserving  of  special  notice, 
as  showing  the  feeling  of  the  pious  ministers  on  the  subject  at  that  day.  It  was 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  265 

How  Iqpig  the  pious  labours  of  Mr.  Black  continued  after  the 
year  1724  is  not  known.  In  the  year  1755,  we  find,  from  an  old 
list  of  the  clergy  of  Virginia,  that  the  Rev.  Arthur  Emmerson, 
afterward  well  known  in  other  parishes,  was  the  minister.  In  the 
year  1774,  the  Rev.  William  Vere  is  set  down  in  the  Virginia  Al- 
manac as  the  minister  of  Accomac  parish.  He  was  doubtless  the 
last  minister  of  this  parish.  In  the  year  1785,  when  the  first  Con- 
vention after  the  Revolution  met  in  Richmond,  there  was  no  clerical 
delegate  from  either  of  the  parishes  of  Accomac.  Mr.  Jabez  Pittis 
was  the  lay  delegate  from  Accomac  parish,  and  Mr.  Levin  Joynes 
and  Tully  Wise  from  St.  George's. 

I  conclude  this  brief  notice  of  the  old  and  decayed  parish  of 
Accomac,  in  Accomac  county,  with  the  following  paper,  furnished 
by  my  friend,  T.  R.  Joynes,  Sr.,  of  that  county,  touching  the 
school.  The  document  consists  of  an  extract  from  the  will  of  Mr. 
Sandford,  with  some  remarks  by  Mr.  Joynes : — 

"In  the  will  of  Samuel  Sandford — 'sometime  of  Accomack  county,  Vir- 
ginia, and  now  being  in  the  city  of  London,  dated  the  27th  day  of  March, 
1710,  in  the  ninth  year  of  the  reign  of  our  sovereign  Lady  Queen  Anne, 
over  England,  alias  Great  Britain' — there  is  a  very  long  preamble  in  the 
usual  pious  style  of  that  age;  and,  after  a  number  of  other  devises,  he 
says,  '  For  the  benefit,  better  learning,  and  education  of  poor  children, 
whose  parents  are  esteemed  unable  to  give  them  learning,  living  in  the 
upper  part  of  Accomack  county,  in  Virginia ;  that  is  to  say,  from  Guild- 
ford  Creek  directly  to  the  seaside,  and  likewise  from  Guildford  Creek  to 
the  dividing-line  parting  Virginia  from  Maryland,  the  rents  and  profits, 


always  recognised  as  a  duty  by  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  rulers  in  England,  and 
more  or  less  practised  by  the  better  sort  of  our  ministers  in  Virginia.  About 
this  time  I  find  the  following  proposition,  which  is  preserved  among  the  archives 
of  Lambeth: — 

"A  Proposition  for  Encouraging   the   Christian   Education  of  Indian,  Negro,  and 

Mulatto  Children. 

"It  being  a  duty  of  Christianity  very  much  neglected  by  masters  and  mistresses 
of  this  country  (America)  to  endeavour  the  good  instruction  and  education  of  their 
heathen  slaves  in  the  Christian  faith, — the  said  duty  being  likewise  earnestly  recom- 
mended by  his  Majesty's  instructions, — for  the  facilitating  thereof  among  the  young 
slaves  that  are  born  among  us;  it  is,  therefore,  humbly  proposed  that  every  Indian, 
negro,  or  mulatto  child  that  shall  be  baptized  and  afterward  brought  to  church 
and  publicly  catechized  by  the  minister  in  church,  and  shall,  before  the  fourteenth 
year  of  his  or  her  age,  give  a  distinct  account  of  the  Creed,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and 
Ten  Commandments,  and  whose  master  or  mistress  shall  receive  a  certificate  from 
the  minister  that  he  or  she  hath  so  done,  such  Indian,  negro,  or  mulatto  child  shall 
be  exempted  from  paying  all  levies  till  the  age  of  eighteen  years." 


266  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

(of  the  three  tracts  of  land  therein  described,  containing  together  three 
thousand  four  hundred  and  twenty  acres,)  authorizing  and  empowering  such 
person  or  persons  who  are  justices  of  the  peace,  churchwardens,  or  of  the 
vestry  for  the  time  being,  or  the  major  part  of  them,  being  inhabitants  of 
those  aforesaid  parts  of  ye  county  of  Accomack  aforesaid,  to  sett  and  lett  the 
aforesaid  premises  for  the  better  improvement  thereof,  and  for  the  support 
of  better  learning  and  better  education  of  poor  children ;  for  which  uses 
the  rents  and  profits  thereof  is  bequeathed  and  given  forever, — hereby 
humbly  praying  the  Honourable  the  Governor  of  Virginia  for  the  time- 
being,  with  the  Honourable  Council  of  State,  their  care  that  the  lands 
by  this  will  given  may  be  appropriated  for  the  uses  intended  and  pre- 
scribed/ 

"  In  the  will,  the  testator  speaks  of  his  '  living'  in  the  county  of  Glou- 
cester, from  which  I  infer  that  he  was  probably  a  minister  of\  the  Gospel, 
who  was,  at  one  time,  a  minister  in  Accomac,  and,  at  the  time  of  the  date 
of  his  will,  was  a  minister  in  the  county  of  Gloucester,  in  England. 

"  T.  K.  JOYNES,  Secretary." 

From  the  same  source  I  learn  that  the  churches  in  Accomac 
were — a  brick  one,  at  Assawaman,  on  the  seaside ;  a  wooden  one, 
on  the  Middle  or  Wallop's  Road,  about  five  miles  from  the  southern 
line  of  the  parish ;  and  another  of  wood,  at  Pocomoke,  near  the 
Maryland  line,  called  the  New  Church.  None  of  them  now  remain, 
and  very  few  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  parish  retain  any  attach- 
ment to  the  Church  of  their  fathers.  About  thirty  years  past,  the 
overseers  of  the  poor  took  possession  of  the  Communion-plate,  and 
sold  the  same  to  a  silversmith,  who  intended  to  melt  it  up ;  but, 
being  advised  that  it  was  doubtful  whether  they  had  any  authority 
to  sell  the  plate  under  the  law  directing  the  sale  of  the  glebe-lands, 
and  there  being  a  tradition  that  the  plate  was  a  private  donation, 
the  sale  was  rescinded. 

As  to  the  ministers  of  St.  George's  parish,  in  Accomac,  our 
records  before  the  Revolution  fail  us  altogether.  It  is  probable 
that  some  of  the  ministers  of  Hungar's  parish  rendered  service 
here  for  some  time  after  the  division  of  the  Eastern  Shore  into  the 
counties  of  Northampton  and  Accomac,  especially  Mr.  Teackle. 
The  first  minister  on  any  of  our  lists  was  the  Rev.  John  Lyon, 
from  Rhode  Island,  who  was  in  the  parish  in  the  year  1774,  and 
continued  there  during  and  some  time  after  the  war.  Being  more 
of  the  Englishman  than  the  American  in  his  feelings,  his  time  was 
very  uncomfortable  during  the  Revolutionary  struggle ;  but,  being 
married  into  a  respectable  family,  his  principles  were  tolerated  and 
his  person  protected.  While  as  a  faithful  historian  we  shall  truth- 
fully admit  whatever  of  Toryism  there  was  among  the  clergy  of 
Virginia,  we  shall  as  faithfully  maintain  that  there  was  a  large 
share  of  noble  patriotism  in  the  clergy  of  Virginia.  Mr.  Jefferson 


FAMILIES  OF  VIRGINIA.  267 

declares  this  most  emphatically.  In  a  late  number  of  the  Lynch- 
burg  Republican  the  editor  refers  to  it,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  note 
below.* 

In  the  year  1786  the  Rev.  Theopolus  Nugent  was  present  in  the 
Convention  as  the  rector  of  St.  George's  parish,  Accomac.  But 
nothing  more  is  known  of  him.  The  following  is  the  list  of  the 
clergymen  from  the  time  of  Mr.  Nugent  to  the  present  day : — The 
Revs.  Cave  Jones,  Ayrs,  Reese,  Gardiner,  Eastburn,  Smith,  Chase, 
Goldsmith,  Carpenter,  Adams,  Bartlett,  Winchester,  Jonathan 
Smith,  Wm.  G.  Jones,  and  Zimmer.  I  am  not  able,  at  present, 
to  get  the  surnames  of  some  of  the  foregoing.  A  few  remarks 
concerning  two  of  the  above-mentioned  ministers  will  be  acceptable 
to  the  reader.  The  Rev.  Cave  Jones  was  a  native  of  Virginia, 
— probably  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  three  of  that  name  who 
ministered  in  the  early  Church  of  Virginia.  He  was  a  man  of 
talents  and  eloquence,  which,  after  some  years,  attracted  attention 
beyond  the  bounds  of  our  State,  and  led  to  a  call  to  Trinity  Church, 

*  We  affirm  that  no  element  was  more  often  invoked  in  the  earlier  history  of 
Virginia  than  the  influence  of  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  in  producing  a  feeling  of 
resistance  to  the  oppressions  of  England;  and  no  class  from  whom  the  Henrys, 
Jeffersons,  and  patriot  politicians  of  that  day  received  greater  aid  in  opening  the 
eyes  of  the  people  and  preparing  them  for  a  severance  from  Great  Britain.  Mr. 
Jefferson  himself  acknowledges  this  in  his  works,  vol.  i.  pp.  5,  6. 

"  Describing  the  influence  of  the  news  of  the  Boston  Port  Bill  upon  himself,  Mr. 
Henry,  R.  H.  Lee,  Francis  Lightfoot  Lee,  and  some  others,  in  June,  1774,  he  says, 
'  We  were  under  conviction  of  the  necessity  of  arousing  our  people  from  the  lethargy 
into  which  they  had  fallen  as  to  passing  events,  and  thought  that  the  appointment 
of  a  day  of  general  fasting  and  prayer  would  be  most  likely  to  call  up  and  alarm 
their  attention.  No  examples  of  such  a  solemnity  had  existed  since  the  days  of  our 
distresses  in  the  war  of  '55,  since  which  a  new  generation  had  grown  up.  With  the 
help,  therefore,  of  Rushworth,  whom  we  rummaged  over  for  the  precedents  and 
forms  of  the  Puritans  of  that  day,  preserved  by  him,  we  cooked  up  a  resolution, 
somewhat  modernizing  their  phrases,  for  appointing  the  1st  day  of  June,  on  which 
the  Port  Bill  was  to  commence,  for  a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation,  and  prayer,  to 
implore  Heaven  to  avert  from  us  the  evils  of  civil  war,  to  inspire  us  with  firmness  in 
support  of  our  rights,  and  to  turn  the  hearts  of  the  King  and  Parliament  to 
moderation  and  justice.  To  give  greater  emphasis  to  our  proposition,  we  agreed 
to  wait  the  next  morning  on  Mr.  Nicholas — whose  grave  and  religious  character  was 
more  in  unison  with  the  tone  of  our  resolutions — and  solicit  him  to  move  it.  We 
accordingly  went  to  him  in  the  morning.  He  moved  it  the  same  day:  the  1st 
of  June  was  proposed,  and  it  was  passed  without  opposition.  The  Governor 
dissolved  us.  We  returned  home,  and  in  our  several  counties  invited  the  clergy  to 
meet  the  assemblies  of  the  people  on  the  1st  of  June,  to  perform  the  ceremonies  of 
the  day,  and  to  address  to  them  discourses  suited  to  the  occasion.  The  people 
met,  generally,  with  anxiety  and  alarm  in  their  countenances,  and  the  effect  of  the 
day,  through  the  whole  Colony,  was  like  a  shock  of  electricity,  arousing  every  man 
and  placing  him  erect  and  solidly  on  his  centre.' " 


268  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

New  York.     He  was  so  popular  in  that  situation  as  to  become  a 
formidable  rival  to  Dr.  Hobart,  afterward  Bishop  of  New  York. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Eastburn  was  from  New  York,  and  brother  to 
Bishop  Eastburn  of  Massachusetts.  From  every  account  we  have 
received  of  him,  whether  from  New  York  or  Accomac,  he  must  have 
been  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  talented  young  men  of  our 
land.  He  came  to  Virginia  at  a  time  when  ample  material  still 
remained  in  Accomac  for  the  exercise  of  his  pious  zeal,  and  it  was 
exercised  most  diligently  in  all  the  departments  of  ministerial  duty, 
but  especially  in  the  instruction  of  the  young  by  the  means  of 
Sunday-schools.  He  is  still  spoken  of  in  the  families  of  Accomac 
as  that  extraordinary  young  man.  The  following  letter  from  his 
brother,  Bishop  Manton  Eastburn,  in  answer  to  one  from  myself, 
furnishes  some  particulars  worthy  of  being  recorded : — 

"  NEWPORT,  R.  I.,  Aug.  25,  1855. 

"  MY  DEAR  BISHOP  : — Having  been  at  this  place  during  the  present 
month,  your  letter  of  the  16th  has  only  just  reached  me.  Nothing  was 
published  after  my  dear  and  distinguished  brother's  death,  except  the 
poem  of  '  Yamoyden,  a  Tale  of  the  Wars  of  King  Philip/  which  he  com- 
posed in  company  with  his  friend,  Robert  C.  Sands,  and  which  the  latter 
edited.  I  can  only  say,  in  a  few  words,  that  he  was  ordained  by  Bishop 
Hobart  at  the  Diocesan  Convention  of  New  York,  in  October,  1818  j 
commenced  his  ministry  in  Accomac  county  almost  immediately;  and, 
after  a  short  but  truly  glorious  ministry  of  about  eight  months,  (during 
which,  as  I  heard  him  say,  he  thought  he  had  been  the  instrument  of  the 
conversion  of  seventeen  persons,)  returned,  broken  in  health,  to  New 
York,  and  expired  in  December,  1819,  on  his  passage  to  St.  Croix,  W.  I., 
to  which  island,  in  company  with  his  mother  and  myself,  he  was  pro- 
ceeding for  the  benefit  of  his  health.  He  had  just  reached  the  age  of 
twenty-two  years;  but  he  was  mature  in  mind,  accomplished  in  attain- 
ments both  of  ancient  and  modern  learning,  and  one  of  the  most  u  burning 
lights"  in  the  Church  of  God  I  ever  knew.  I  think  he  left  an  impression 
in  Accomac  which  is  not  yet  effaced. 

"  Excuse  me  for  this  unavoidable  delay,  and  believe  me  to  be 
"  Faithfully  yours, 

"In  one  dear  Lord  and  Saviour, 

"  MANTON  EASTBURN. 
"  RT.  REV.  BISHOP  MEADE. 

"P.S. — My  brother's  name  was  James  Wallis  Eastburn,  M.  A.,  of 
Columbia  College,  New  York.  He  composed,  at  eighteen  years  of  age, 
the  beautiful  Trinity-Sunday  Hymn  in  our  collection,  No.  77  j  beginning, 
<0h,  holy,  holy,  holy  Lord/  &c.  The  'Summer  Midnight' — being  five 
or  six  stanzas  composed  at  Accomac  in  June,  1819 — is,  for  beauty  and 
elevation  of  thought,  and  heavenly  aspirations  after  immortality,  one  of 
the  most  exquisite  things  in  our  language.  It  was  published  in  the  New 
York  Commercial  Advertiser  soon  after  its  composition. 

"His  studies  for  the  ministry  were  pursued  for  two  years  with  Bishop 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  269 

Griswold,  at  Bristol,  R.  I.     There  is  a  letter  of  my  father's,  in  relation  to 
him,  in  Stone's  life  of  the  Bishop." 

The  Episcopalian  cannot  but  think  with  melancholy  feelings  of 
the  gradual  decline,  as  to  numbers,  of  the  Church  in  Accomac.  from 
the  time  of  Mr.  Black,  in  1710,  to  the  present  day.  Then,  in  one 
parish  only — the  upper — there  were  four  or  five  hundred  families, 
three  overflowing  churches,  and  two  hundred  communicants,  with 
scarce  a  Dissenter  in  it.  Now,  in  both  parishes,  covering  the  whole 
county,  there  are  only  three  churches  and  about  fifty  communicants. 
Other  denominations,  chiefly  the  Methodists,  have  drawn  away  the 
great  body  of  the  people  from  our  communion.  There  are  still  a 
number  of  very  interesting  and  intelligent  families  remaining  to  us, 
in  which  are  not  only  some  attached  Churchmen,  but  truly  pious 
Christians.  May  God  strengthen  the  things  that  remain,  and  grant 
us  there,  as  he  has  done  in  so  many  other  parts  of  the  State,  a 
great  increase ! 

It  deserves  to  be  mentioned  that,  some  years  since,  the  Rev. 
Ambler  Weed,  of  Richmond,  undertook  the  revival  of  the  Church 
in  the  lower  part  of  St.  George's  parish,  and  by  great  diligence 
caused  a  new  church,  by  the  name  of  St.  Michael's,  to  be  erected 
near  Bell  Haven.  In  this  and  in  old  Pongoteague  Church  he 
officiated  for  some  years  with  great  diligence  and  self-denial,  and 
with  some  success. 

Old  Pongoteague — the  first  house  of  prayer  erected  in  Accomac, 
and  probably  not  much  less  than  two  hundred  years  old — still  stands, 
a  remarkable  monument  of  former  days,  among  some  old  trees, 
perhaps  as  ancient  as  itself.  It  is  a  brick  building  in  the  form  of  a 
cross.  Though  well-built,  and  in  some  parts  still  firm  and  unyielding, 
yet  in  others  it  gives  signs  of  decay  and  ruin.  Breaches  in  the 
walls  are  apparent,  and  the  rains  from  above  find  their  way  through 
its  mouldering  roof. 

I  am  sorry  to  be  unable  to  give  a  list  of  the  ancient  vestrymen  of 
Accomac.  The  only  documents  of  which  I  have  heard,  from  which 
to  derive  such  list,  and  other  particulars,  perished  during  the  last 
year.  Would  that  all  the  friends,  members,  and  ministers  of  the 
Church  of  Virginia,  and  any  others  who  have  any  care  for  her 
past  history,  would  but  inquire  for  such  documents,  and  search  for 
them  among  the  neglected  papers  of  old  family  mansions  -and 
clerk's  offices !  How  much  might  still  be  rescued  from  destruction  and 
oblivion,  which  is  worthy  of  preservation  in  some  permanent  form ! 

In  place  of  a  list  of  the  vestrymen  of  the  parish,  I  subjoin  the 
following,  of  the  families  which  from  the  earliest  period  to  the 


270  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

present  time  have  belonged  to  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Accomac. 
It  has  been  furnished  me  by  a  friend,  with  the  qualification  that  it 
is  imperfect,  and  that  there  were  others  who  might  be  added:— 
"Bowman,  Cropper,  Joynes,  West,  Satchell,  Smith,  Wise,  Finney, 
Bayley,  Snead,  Parker,  Stratton,  Bagwell,  Andrews,  Arbunkle, 
Scarbrough,  Robinson,  Custis,  Stokely,  Poulson,  Downing,  Bell, 
Upshur,  Pasamour,  Teagle,  Hack,  Seymour,  Kellam,  etc." 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  271 


ARTICLE  XXII. 

Parishes  in  Norfolk  County. 

UNTIL  the  year  1691,  that  which  is  now  Princess  Anne  and  Nor- 
folk was  called  Lower  Norfolk,  in  contradistinction  to  Upper  Norfolk, 
now  Nansemond.  In  that  year  Lower  Norfolk  was  divided  into 
Norfolk  and  Princess  Anne,  the  parishes  being  still  called  Elizabeth 
River  and  Lynnhaven  parishes. 

The  town  of  Norfolk  was  established  in  1705.  Colonel  Byrd,  in 
his  Westover  Manuscripts,  in  the  year  1728,  after  speaking  of  its 
prosperous  condition,  says,  "  The  worst  of  it  is,  they  contribute 
much  toward  debauching  the  country,  by  importing  an  abundance 
of  rum,  which,  like  gin  in  Great  Britain,  breaks  the  constitution, 
vitiates  the  morals,  and  ruins  the  industry  of  most  of  the  poor  people 
of  the  country."  Of  the  people  of  Norfolk  he  says,  "The  two 
cardinal  virtues  which  make  a  place  thrive — industry  and  frugality — 
are  seen  here  in  perfection  ;  and,  so  long  as  they  can  banish  luxury 
and  idleness,  the  town  will  remain  in  a  happy  and  flourishing  con- 
dition." Although  it  has  not  increased  in  numbers  and  wealth  as 
some  other  places,  if  religion  and  morality  constitute  the  real  pros- 
perity of  a  place,  then  Norfolk  has  to  this  day  flourished  much 
beyond  most  other  towns  in  our  land,  and  her  industry  and  frugality 
have  ministered  not  a  little  to  these. 

Of  the  churches  and  ministers  in  Lower  Norfolk  before  the  year 
1691,  when  the  division  above  mentioned  took  place,  we  have  but 
scanty  accounts.  I  state  it  on  the  authority  of  one  who  would  not 
speak  unadvisedly,  that,  in  the  year  1637,  one  John  Wilson  was 
minister  of  Elizabeth  River  parish,  in  Norfolk  county.  From  this 
until  the  year  1749  there  is  no  information  to  be  obtained  as  to 
this  parish  or  its  ministers,  except  that  in  the  year  1724,  when 
answers  were  sent  to  the  Bishop  of  London's  circulars,  there  were 
no  ministers  of  the  parish  to  furnish  one. 

On  a  loose  piece  of  paper  which  has  come  into  my  hands,  I  find 
that,  in  the  year  1728,  a  Mr.  Thomas  Nash— who  was,  I  believe, 
both  clerk  of  the  vestry  and  lay-reader  of  the  South  Branch  Chapel — 
gave  in  a  list  of  births  occurring  in  that  part  of  the  parish  during 
the  year  1727.  The  number  of  these  shows  that  there  was  a 


272  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

considerable  population  at*  that  time  in  the  county,  and  that  their 
reliance  here,  as  in  some  other  places,  was  on  the  cheaper  supply 
of  readers. 

From  the  vestry-book,  which  begins  in  1749  and  ends  in  1761, — 
twelve  years, — I  learn  that  the  Rev.  Charles  Smith  was  the  minister 
during  all  that  period :  how  long  before  is  not  known,  but  it  is 
probable  from  the  year  1743,  from  the  following  inscription  on  his 
tombstone  at  the  glebe,  near  Portsmouth,  as  he  was  the  minister 
of  Portsmouth  parish  at  his  death  in  1773 : — 

"Here  lies  interred  the  Rev.  Charles  Smith,  rector  of  Portsmouth 
parish,  who  died  the  llth  of  January,  1773,  in  the  61st  year  of  his  age. 
He  officiated  as  minister  upwards  of  thirty  years,  and  his  conduct  through 
life  was  unexceptionable.  He  was  a  sincere  friend,  a  most  tender  hus- 
band, an  affectionate  father,  and  a  humane,  good  man.  He  was  esteemed 
and  beloved  when  alive,  and  died  universally  lamented.  In  testimony  of 
their  tender  regard,  his  son-in-law,  James  Taylor,  and  daughter,  Alice 
Taylor,  have  erected  this  monument." 

It  appears,  by  what  we  learn  from  the  vestry-book  and  tomb- 
stone,, that  he  was  probably  the  minister  of  Elizabeth  River  parish 
and  of  a  division  of  the  same  during  the  whole  period  of  a  more 
than  thirty  years'  ministry. 

In  the  year  1761  the  parish  of  Elizabeth  River,  covering  all 
Norfolk  county,  was  divided  into  three, — Portsmouth,  St.  Bride's, 
and  Elizabeth  River.  We  cannot  say  whether  Mr.  Smith  continued 
to  minister  in  Norfolk  and  Elizabeth  River  after  this,  or  at  once 
chose  Portsmouth  town  and  parish  as  his  place  of  residence  and 
field  of  labour.  In  the  years  1773-4-6  we  find,  on  our  old  lists, 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Davis  the  minister  in  Norfolk.  He  was  one  of 
the  ministers  who  zealously  advocated  the  Revolution,  and  preached 
on  some  public  occasion  by  request  of  the  Assembly.  In  the  year 
1785  he  was  the  minister  in  Northumberland  county, — afterwards 
in  Alexandria,  and  lastly  in  Northampton,  where  he  died.  In  the 
year  1785,  when  the  first  Convention  was  held  in  Richmond,  no 
clerical  delegate  appeared  from  Norfolk,  and  it  is  probable  there 
was  no  minister  there,  as  two  lay  delegates  were  present,  Dr. 
James  Taylor  (son-in-law  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Smith,  we  presume)  and 
Mr.  George  Kelly.  Although  no  clerical  or  lay  delegation  appears 
from  Norfolk  in  the  years  1786-88,  yet  it  is  believed  that  the  Rev. 
Walker  Maury  was  minister  during  a  part  of  that  time.  The  fol- 
lowing inscription  on  his  tombstone  in  the  graveyard  at  Norfolk, 
put  there,  it  is  believed,  by  the  congregation,  would  indicate  that 
he  was  the  minister : — 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  273 

"  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  the  Rev.  Walker  Maury,  who  departed  this 
life  in  the  city  of  Norfolk,  October  llth,  1788,  in  the  36th  year  of  his 
age." 

He  died  of  the  yellow  fever  of  that  year.  Mr.  Walker  Maury 
was  the  son  of  the  Rev.  James  Maury  and  brother  of  the  Rev. 
Matthew  Maury  of  Frederickville  parish,  Albemarle,  of  whom  we 
have  written.  He  married  a  Miss  Grimes,  of  the  Lower  Country. 
They  were  the  parents  of  the  ladies  who  married  Mr.  Isaac  Hite 
and  John  Hay,  of  Frederick  county,  and  Mr.  Polk,  of  Washington. 
More  pious  and  estimable  ladies  than  the  mother  and  daughters  are 
not  easily  found.  There  were  also  several  sons. 

In  1789-91,  the  Rev.  James  Whitehead  appears  in  the  several 
Conventions  as  minister  of  Elizabeth  River  parish,  Norfolk ;  and 
again  in  1805.  During  the  interval  no  delegation  appears.  Soon 
after  this,  it  is  believed,  Mr.  Whitehead  accepted  a  charge  in  Balti- 
more. From  all  the  accounts  I  have  received,  Mr.  Whitehead  was 
a  worthy  minister  of  the  Gospel.  He  was  also  a  good  scholar,  and 
presided  over  the  academy  in  Norfolk.  He  was  the  father  of  Mrs. 
Commodore  Skinner,  and  other  children,  who  inherit  the  father's 
attachment  to  the  Episcopal  Church. 

It  was  during  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Whitehead  that  a  most  unhappy 
and  bitter  controversy  occurred  in  the  congregation,  concerning 
himself  and  the  Rev.  William  Bland,  who  was  the  favourite  of  a 
portion  of  the  congregation,  and  was  claimed,  by  some,  to  be  the 
minister,  although  he  never  had  a  seat  in  the  Conventions.  Mr. 
Bland  was  ordained  by  the  Bishop  of  London  in  1767,  and  had 
been  floating  about  various  parishes  until  he  came  to  Norfolk.  His 
only  virtue  was  an  attachment  to  the  Revolutionary  cause  while  he 
was  minister  in  James  City,  and  which  brought  him  into  some  notice 
by  our  patriots  in  Williamsburg.  He  was  a  man  of  intemperate 
habits — at  any  rate  while  in  Norfolk — but  still  had  something  about 
him  which  created  a  party  in  his  favour.  The  controversy  was  car- 
ried on  in  the  newspapers  in  Norfolk  during  the  week,  and  also  in 
the  pulpit  on  the  Sabbath, — the  same  pulpit  serving  both  ministers, 
the  one  in  the  morning,  the  other  in  the  afternoon.  The  following 
extract  of  a  letter  from  my  friend,  Mr.  John  Southgate,  of  Norfolk, 
contains  the  most  accurate  account  of  the  transaction  which  is  to 
be  had  :— 

"  I  think  it  was  in  the  year  1790  or  1791  that  I  arrived  in  Nor- 
folk, at  which  time,  or  very  soon  thereafter,  the  controversy  that  you 
speak  of  commenced  between  the  partisans  of  Bland  and  Whitehead,  who 

18 


274  OLD  CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

were  both  elected  by  their  separate  vestries  (for  both  parties  had  their 
separate  vestries  and  wardens)  to  the  rectorship  of  old  St.  Paul's.  Of 
course  a  good  deal  of  ill  blood  was  engendered  between  the  reverend  gen- 
tlemen. This  state  of  things  lasted  for  some  years,  until  Mr.  Whitehead 
and  his  friends;  who  amounted  to  a  large  majority,  perhaps  nine-tenths 
of  the  church,  and  who  were  most  moderate  in  their  pretensions,  for  the 
sake  of  peace  gave  way,  and  occupied  the  court-house  as  a  place  of  worship, 
and  where  the  ordinances  of  the  Church  were  for  some  time  administered. 
In  the  year  1800,  April  16th,  the  friends  of  Mr.  Whitehead  met  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  arrangements  for  building  a  place  of  worship,  which  they 
called  Christ  Church,  at  which  time  sixteen  thousand  dollars  were  promptly 
subscribed,  and  on  the  24th  of  June  of  the  same  year  the  corner-stone 
was  laid ;  and,  for  the  purpose  of  avoiding  difficulties  heretofore  existing, 
it  was  determined  that  the  appointment  of  the  rector  should  be  made  by 
the  pew-holders,  and  that  annually.*  Mr.  Whitehead  continued  to  be  the 
pastor  of  the  same  until  the  early  part  of  the  year  1806,  when  he  received  a 
call  to  a  church  in  Baltimore;  and,  what  may  surprise  us  at  this  day,  his  only 
compensation  during  sixteen  years,  for  his  services,  was  one  hundred  pounds 
or  three  hundred  and  thirty- three  and  one-third  dollars  per  annum. " 

Mr.  Whitehead  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Davis,  from 
Alexandria,  (the  same  who  had  formerly  been  minister  in  Norfolk,) 
who  continued  with  us  until  October,  1808,  having  received  a  call 
from  Hungar's  parish,  on  the  Eastern  Shore.  Mr.  Davis  was  suc- 
ceeded by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Syme,  who  continued  until  February,  1815, 
when  he  was  not  re-elected.  He,  however,  occasionally  did  the 
duties  of  the  clerk  and  pulpit,  in  connection  with  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Brown,  until  July,  1816.  At  this  time  Mr.  Brown  either  died  or 
removed,  and  Mr.  Syme  was  called  to  Hungar's  parish.  In  August, 
1816,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Low  became  rector  of  the  parish,  and  con- 
tinued until  his  death  in  1820.  Mr.  Low  was  the  son  of  the  un- 
happy man  who  was  minister  in  Lancaster  and  Fredericksburg  and 
gave  much  trouble  to  the  Church,  and  of  whom  we  shall  have  some- 
thing to  say  hereafter.  His  son  was  as  a  brand  plucked  from  the 
burning  in  more  ways  than  one.  Being  of  a  literary  and  poetic  turn, 
and  having  some  talent  for  the  stage  and  passionately  fond  of  it,  he 
for  a  time  addicted  himself  to  its  performances ;  but  the  Spirit  of  God 
followed  him  even  into  that  synagogue  of  Satan,  and  brought  him 
forth  and  placed  him  on  a  higher  and  holier  stage  in  the  Church 


*  Although  we  can  never  be  brought  to  approve  of  annual  elections,  and  that  by 
the  pew-holders  instead  of  vestrymen,  yet  it  must  be  confessed  that  thus  far  it  has 
happily  succeeded  in  this  congregation.  But  we  are  persuaded  this  has  resulted 
from  the  peculiarly  excellent  materials  of  which  it  has  been  composed,  and  not 
from  the  mode  of  election.  Painful  fears  have  often  been  felt  of  evil  in  its  ope- 
ration. May  it  long  be  averted  by  the  good  providence  of  God  ! 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  275 

of  Christ.  What  little  preparation  he  was  able  to  make  for  the 
pulpit  was  chiefly  made  under  my  own  roof.  His  father's  sin  and 
disgrace  produced  an  abiding  impression  of  pensiveness,  if  not  of 
melancholy,  on  a  naturally  sensitive  mind,  and  this  was  deepened 
still  more  by  the  early  death  of  a  lovely  young  woman  (Miss  Brown, 
of  Norfolk)  whom  he  married  soon  after  taking  charge  of  Christ's 
Church.  His  pious  conversation  and  evangelical  preaching  began 
that  work  which  to  this  day  has  gone  on.  His  successor,  Mr. 
Enoch  Lowe,  who  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  late  war  and  brought  a 
soldier's  spirit  with  him  into  the  ministry,  by  a  bold  and  fearless 
declaration  of  evangelical  truth  and  a  very  impressive  delivery, 
advanced  the  work  with  rapid  strides.  He  was  succeeded  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Wickes,  originally  a  Methodist  minister.  His  preaching 
also  was  bold,  impressive,  sound,  and  experimental,  and  he  was 
effecting  much  good  when  the  destroyer  came  in  the  form  of  strong 
drink.  He  fell  a  victim  to  it,  as  many  of  God's  ministers  have 
done,  who,  listening  to  the  voice  of  the  tempter,  "  Ye  shall  not 
surely  die,"  have  fallen  into  the  snare.  Acknowledging  his  great 
guilt,  and  not  denying  it,  as  too  many  do,  he  submitted  to  the 
discipline  of  the  Church,  and  afterward  returned  to  the  communion 
he  had  left. 

In  the  year  1825,  the  Rev.  George  A.  Smith  became  the  minister 
of  Christ  Church,  but  was  only  able  to  continue  one  year,  on  ac- 
count of  feeble  health.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Du- 
cachet.  On  his  being  called  to  St.  Stephen's  Church,  in  Philadel- 
phia, in  1834, 1  was  induced,  under  peculiar  circumstances,  to  leave 
my  old  charge  in  Frederick  to  the  care  of  another,  and  take  the 
temporary  charge  of  this  congregation,  not  knowing  how  long  it 
might  seem  to  be  my  duty  to  continue.  At  the  end  of  two 
years,  among  the  happiest  and  perhaps  most  useful  years  of  my 
ministerial  life,  I  resigned  the  charge  of  it  into  the  hands  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Parks,  whose  ministry  was  highly  acceptable.  During 
these  two  years  I  had  also  the  care  of  the  congregation  at  old 
St.  Paul's,  which  was  without  a  minister,  and  in  almost  a  despair- 
ing condition.  I  was  successful  in  keeping  alive  its  hopes,  and 
preventing  a  dissolution  of  the  congregation,  and  placing  over  it 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Atkinson,  who  was  ordained  a  deacon  by  me 
while  in  Norfolk.  On  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Parks,  the  Rev. 
Upton  Beale  became  its  minister.  His  faithfulness  in  all  the  de- 
partments of  the  ministry,  private  and  public,  his  sound  judgment 
and  prudence,  and  his  unceasing  labours  and  sound  evangelical 
and  experimental  preaching,  secured  for  him  the  increasing  affec- 


$ 

276  OLD   CHUKCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

tioi:  and  esteem  of  the  congregation  until  his  death.  To  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Beale  succeeded  the  Rev.  George  Cummings,  who,  after  a 
ministry  of  a  few  years,  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Minnege- 
rode,  who  has  just  resigned  the  charge. 

THE  CHURCHES  OF  NORFOLK  COUNTY  AND  ELIZABETH  RIVER  PARISH. 

As  we  hear  of  a  minister  in  1637,  we  must  suppose  that  some 
kind  of  a  church  was  erected  in  Norfolk  at  that  early  period.  The 
first  churches  were  always  rude  and  indifferent,  destined  soon  to 
pass  away.  There  were,  indeed,  very  many  such  even  to  the  time 
of  the  Revolution. 

I  have  no  information  concerning  the  old  churches  except  that 
contained  in  a  vestry-book  commencing  in  1749  and  ending  in 
1761.  At  the  close  of  it  a  new  vestry-book  is  spoken  of  as  about 
to  be.  Doubtless  there  was  one,  but  it  is  nowhere  to  be  found. 

In  the  year  1750,  there  is,  in  the  old  one,  a  record  evidently 
alluding  to  St.  Paul's  Church  that  now  is,  and  to  one  that  had  been 
there  some  time  before,  but  how  long  cannot  be  ascertained.  It  is 
ordered  in  that  year  that  Mr.  James  Pasteur  be  allowed  to  have 
the  bricks  and  timber  of  the  old  church  to  build  a  house  on  the 
school-land, — a  school-house,  we  suppose.  This  proves  that  the 
present  St.  Paul's  was  built  before  1750,  and  that  there  was  a  brick 
church  some  time  before  this  on  or  near  the  same  place.  It  is 
otherwise  known  that  St.  Paul's  was  built  in  1739.  There  is  an 
entry  showing  that  Mr.  Smith,  the  minister,  received  sixteen  thou- 
sand-weight of  tobacco  for  preaching  at  the  mother-church,  (St. 
Paul's,  in  Norfolk)  and  four  thousand  for  each  of  the  three  cha- 
pels,— that  at  the  Great  Bridge,  where  the  first  battle  of  the  Revo- 
lution was  fought,  that  at  Tanner's  Creek,  and  the  Southern  Branch 
Chapel.  In  the  year  1753,  a  Western  Branch  Chapel  is  also  spoken 
of.  There  are,  I  believe,  some  remains  of  one  or  more  of  these 
chapels  to  this  day.  In  regard  to  St.  Paul's ;  in  the  year  1750, 
we  have  an  account  of  some  of  the  interior  of  the  same.  It  is 
ordered  "  that  Captain  John  Cook,  Captain  John  Shriff,  Captain 
John  Calvert,  and  Mr.  Charles  Sweny  be  allowed  to  build  a  gal- 
lery in  the  church  in  Norfolk,  reaching  from  the  gallery  of  Mr. 
John  Taylor  to  the  school-boys'  gallery,  to  be  theirs  and  their  heirs' 
forever."  Also,  "that  Mr.  Mathew  Godfrey,  Mr.  William  Nash, 
Captain  Trimagan  Tatum,  and  Mr.  William  Ashley  have  leave  to 
build  a  gallery  from  the  pulpit  to  the  school-boys'  gallery,  to  be 
theirs  and  their  heirs'  forever."  The  whole  church  in  each  member 


FAMILIES   OP  VIRGINIA.  277 

of  the  cross  was,  therefore,  galleried  by  private  individuals,  except 
that  set  apart  for  the  school-boys.  It  appears  from  the  foregoing1 
extracts  that  there  was  one  church  (St.  Paul's)  and  four  chapels, 
with  one  minister  and  three  readers.  The  readers  were  Chamber- 
laine,  Granbury,  and  Nash. 

One-half  of  the  glebe  rented  for  thirty-six  shillings ;  but  there 
were  parish  servants,  and  a  parsonage  which  cost  <£181  10s.  After 
the  building  of  the  new  church  (Christ  Church)  in  1800,  St.  Paul's 
was  for  a  time  loaned  to  the  Baptist  denomination,  and  was  used 
first  by  the  white  and  afterward  by  the  coloured  portion  of  that 
denomination.  But  in  the  year  1832  it  was  resumed  and  repaired 
by  the  Episcopalians  and  solemnly  consecrated  by  Bishop  Moore. 
It  must  not  be  omitted  on  our  record  that,  during  the  war,  all  the 
combustible  materials  of  St.  Paul's  were  consumed  by  the  fire  which 
laid  the  town  in  ashes.  The  well-built  walls,  however,  not  only 
resisted  the  fire,  but  the  cannon-balls  of  our  foe.  There  is  still  to 
be  seen  a  considerable  indentation  in  the  corner  of  one  of  them 
made  by  a  ball  from  the  frigate  Liverpool,  and  the  ball  itself  may 
also  be  seen  in  the  vestry-room,  although  a  Governor  of  Virginia 
has  petitioned  that  it  might  be  placed  in  the  public  library  at  Rich- 
mond. The  communion-plate  was  taken  by  the  enemy  and  carried 
to  Scotland.  Some  tidings  of  it  have  recently  been  received, 
and  hopes  are  entertained  of  its  recovery.* 

In  relation  to  the  other  church  in  Norfolk,  which  was  built  in 
1800,  that  was  also  destroyed  by  fire  in  the  year  1827.  A  new 
one,  the  present  Christ  Church,  was  immediately  erected,  which, 
being  planned  before  the  new  style  of  architecture  was  introduced, 
(one  so  unfavourable  to  both  speaker  and  hearer,  in  winter  and  in 
summer,)  is  one  of  the  most  capacious  and  comfortable  churches  in 
the  land,  and  when  well  lighted  up  at  night,  and  filled  with  wor- 
shippers, as  it  almost  always  is,  presents  to  the  eye  one  of  the  most 
delightful  spectacles  on  earth,  f 


*  The  following  lines,  taken  from  the  Rev.  John  McCabe's  fuller  account  of  St. 
Paul's,  in  the  Church  Review,  will  interest  the  reader : — 

On  it,  Time  his  mark  has  hung  ; 

On  it,  hostile  balls  have  rung ; 

On  it,  green  old  moss  has  clung ; 

On  it,  winds  their  dirge  have  sung : 

Let  us  still  adore  thy  walls, 

Sacred  temple,  old  St.  Paul's." 

j-  Mr.  Swain,  the  architect  of  this  church,  deserves  to  be  mentioned  for  the  extra- 
ordinary fidelity  displayed  in  its  erection. 


278  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  AND 

I  would  that  it  were  in  my  power  to  furnish  a  larger  list  of  the 
vestry  of  the  old  church  in  Norfolk,  but  the  brief  term  of  twelve 
years,  to  which  the  vestry-book  is  limited,  forbids.  Among  the  first 
was  Colonel  Samuel  Boush,  who  gave  the  land  on  which  St.  Paul's 
and  its  graveyard  stands,  and  whose  tombstone,  at  the  door  of  the 
church,  tells  where  his  body  lies.  Himself,  Colonel  George  New- 
ton, Colonel  William  Crawford,  Captain  William  Hodges,  Captain 
Willis  Wilson,  Mr.  Charles  Sweny,  Captain  James  Joy,  Captain 
John  Shriff,  and  Mr.  Samuel  Boush  were  the  first  vestrymen  on 
the  book.  The  two  last  were  in  place  of  Mr.  John  Scott  and  Cap- 
tain Samuel  Langley,  former  vestrymen.  To  the  above,  at  different 
times,  were  added,  Colonel  Robert  Tucker,  Mr.  Mathew  Godfrey, 
Mr.  James  Webb,  Thomas  Newton,  Major  John  Willowby,  Captain 
George  Yeale,  Mr.  Robert  Tucker.  This  list  comes  down  to  1761. 
Should  the  new  vestry-book  which  then  commenced  be  discovered, 
the  list  can  be  greatly  enlarged.* 


*  I  must  not  omit  to  mention,  among  the  families  of  Norfolk  county,  that  of  Dale — 
an  ancient  and  respectable  one  of  this  and  surrounding  counties,  nor  can  I  other- 
wise than  specially  refer  to  one  member  of  it,  Commodore  Richard  Dale,  who  was 
born  in  this  county  in  the  year  1756.  At  an  early  period — twelve  years  of  age — 
he  chose  the  sea  for  his  habitation.  Five  times  was  he  taken  prisoner  by  the 
British  during  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  He  was  in  the  Mill  prison,  at  Liverpool, 
but  escaped,  and  was  seized  by  a  press-gang,  carried  back,  and  thrown  into  a  noi- 
some dungeon  for  forty  days.  Being  released,  he  was  again  thrown  into  the  Black 
Hole  for  singing  rebellious  songs.  Again  escaping,  he  fled  to  France,  and  was 
appointed  first  lieutenant  in  the  Bon  Hornme  Richard,  in  the  fleet  of  Paul  Jones, 
which  spread  such  terror  along  the  western  coast  of  Scotland.  In  the  desperate 
action  with  the  Serapis  he  distinguished  himself,  and  was  wounded  in  the  head. 
Being  appointed  captain  of  an  armed  merchantman  in  the  American  service,  he  con- 
tinued to  command  her  to  the  end  of  the  war.  In  1794  he  was  made  captain  in 
the  United  States  navy;  and  in  1801  he  commanded  the  Mediterranean  squadron. 
In  1802  he  retired  to  private  life,  and  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days  in  Phila- 
delphia, where  he  died  in  1826,  aged  seventy  years,  loved  and  honoured  by  all  who 
knew  him.  But  I  should  not  have  introduced  his  name  into  this  work  except  for 
the  fact  that  his  religious  character,  for  many  years  before  his  death,  was  as 
marked  as  his  military  one  had  been  before.  My  acquaintance  with  him  com- 
menced about  six  or  eight  years  before  his  death,  and  was  most  intimate  to  the  last. 
His  house  was  my  happy  home  during  our  General  Conventions. 

He  was  one  of  those  open,  honest  men  who  could  and  did  speak  freely  on  all 
subjects  to  all  men  and  yet  not  give  oifence.  It  was  expected  of  him  to  reprove 
sin  and  irreligion,  no  matter  in  whom  it  was  seen.  He  took  an  active  part  with 
the  philanthropic  of  Philadelphia  in  all  their  great  plans  of  benevolence.  Espe- 
cially did  he  patronize  all  religious  efforts  for  the  seafaring  race.  He  had  a  large 
sailors'  loft  for  a  chapel,  which  was  always  considered  as  Dale's  Chapel,  and  which 
he  often  attended,  even  though  he  must  leave  his  own  church  to  do  it.  A  pious 
old  Presbyterian  minister  was  the  officiating  clergyman  in  it,  and  was  most  devoted 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  279 


ST.  BRIDE'S  PARISH,  NORFOLK  COUNTY. 

Of  the  position,  lines,  and  boundaries  of  this  we  have  no  accu- 
rate idea,  but  must  refer  our  readers  to  the  delineation  of  it  in  the 
Act  of  Assembly,  in  1761,  which  carved  it  out  of  Elizabeth  River 
parish.  (See  Henning's  Statutes,  1761.)  Having  no  lists  of  clergy 
from  1758  until  the  year  1773,  we  must  begin  with  1773,  when,  as 
well  as  in  1774,  we  find  the  Rev.  James  Pasteur  its  minister.  In 
the  year  1776,  the  Rev.  Emanuel  Jones,  Jr.  becomes  the  minister. 
How  long  he  may  have  continued  is  not  known.  We  know  nothing 
more  of  the  parish  until  the  year  1787,  after  the  Revolution,  when 
the  Rev.  Needier  Robinson  appears  on  the  list  for  one  year,  and 
one  only,  as  minister  of  St.  Bride's  parish.  We  presume  he  was 
the  last  of  her  ministers. 

Which  of  the  old  churches  were  embraced  within  her  bounds  I 
know  not,  nor  whether  she  erected  any  new  ones. 

PORTSMOUTH  PARISH,  NORFOLK  COUNTY. 

Of  this  I  have  rather  more  information,  though  no  vestry -book 
after  1761  affords  it. 

We  have  seen  that  the  Rev.  Charles  Smith  was  its  minister  when 
he  died  in  1773.  He  was  succeeded  in  1774  by  the  Rev.  William 
Braidfoot.  He  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  had  not  been  long 
in  the  ministry  when  it  became  evident  that  war  between  England 
and  the  Colonies  was  inevitable ;  and,  as  he  believed  the  Colonies 
were  contending  for 'their  just  rights,  he  warmly  espoused  their 
cause,  and  entered  the  army  as  chaplain,  continuing  to  fill  that 
station  until  the  close  of  the  war,  when  he  returned  to  Ports- 
mouth parish,  and  died  at  the  glebe  about  the  year  1784  or  1785. 


to  his  work.  I  have  attended  with  the  old  commodore  in  that  loft,  and  preached  to 
his  congregation  with  great  satisfaction.  Although  full  of  charity  to  all  others, 
and  holding  no  exclusive  views,  yet  was  Commodore  Dale  warmly  attached  to  the 
Episcopal  Church,  and  may  be  regarded  as  the  father  of  St.  Stephen's,  which  was 
built  for  his  nephew,  Dr.  Montgomery.  It  was  good  to  see  his  large  manly  form 
go  through  all  the  postures,  and  hear  his  bold  seaman's  voice  in  all  the  responses 
of  the  Liturgy. 

Commodore  Dale  was  in  his  religious  as  in  his  military  character  no  halfway 
man :  he  did  not  attempt  to  serve  God  and  Mammon, — to  carry  religion  in  one  hand 
and  the  world  in  the  other.  He  was  among  the  first  in  Philadelphia  to  break 
away  from  an  old  system  of  Churchmanship  which  allowed  such  a  compromise  with 
the  world.  May  his  spirit  descend  to  his  latest  posterity,  and  his  example  be  faith- 
fully  copied ! 


280  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

Mr.  Braidfoot  married  a  Miss  Mosely,  of  Princess  Anne,  and  left 
one  son,  whose  descendants  are  now  living  in  Portsmouth.  Mr. 
Braidfoot  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Arthur  Emmerson,  son  of 
one  of  the  same  name  who  was  minister  on  the  Eastern  Shore. 
The  son  was  minister  in  Meherrin  parish,  Greensville,  and  in 
Nansemond,  before  coming  to  Portsmouth  parish  in  1785.  He 
ministered  there  from  that  time  until  1801,  much  esteemed  as  a 
man  and  minister,  though  from  feeble  health  unable  to  lead  an 
active  life.  His  wife  was  the  widow  of  the  Rev.  John  Nivison. 
He  was  followed  by  the  Rev.  George  Young,  who  continued  until 
the  year  1808  or  1809.  After  his  death  or  resignation  there  was 
a  vacancy  until  the  year  1821,  when  the  present  rector,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Wingfield,  began  his  labours  in  that  parish.  In  the  absence 
of  any  vestry-book  to  supply  the  names  of  vestrymen  before  the 
time  of  Mr.  Wingfield,  I  mention  the  following  names  of  old 
friends  of  the  Church: — Sproull,  Chisholm,  Agnew,  Herbert, 
Hansford,  Joins,  Dyson,  Porter,  Godfrey,  Wilson,  Wallington, 
Tankard,  Parker,  Veal,  Roberts,  Nivison,  Marsh,  North,  Edwards, 
Davis,  Luke,  Cowper,  Blow,  Braidfoot,  Dickson,  Thompson,  Young, 
Kearns,  Grew,  Garrow,  Kidd,  Mathews,  Brown,  Etheridge,  Mush- 
row,  Shelton,  Pearce,  Satchwell,  Milhado,  Cox,  Butt,  Maupin, 
Swift. 

As  to  churches,  there  were  three  built  in  Portsmouth  parish, — 
one  in  the  town  of  Portsmouth,  in  1762,  on  a  lot  in  the  centre  of 
the  town,  given  by  William  Crawford,  Esq.,  the  original  proprietor 
of  the  land  on  which  the  town  is  built ;  one  on  the  north  bank  of 
the  Western  Branch,  and  one  near  a  village  called  Deep  Creek. 
The  church  in  Portsmouth  was  rebuilt  and  enlarged  in  1829,  under 
the  rectorship  of  Mr.  Wingfield.  The  country  churches  have  long 
since  fallen  into  ruins.  When  the  present  rector  took  charge  of 
the  parish,  in  1821,  the  vestry  had  long  since  been  dissolved,  and 
the  members  of  the  three  congregations  had  united  themselves — 
as  in  many  other  places — with  the  various  surrounding  denomina- 
tions. 

A  few  years  since,  another  congregation  was  formed  in  Ports- 
mouth, a  church  built,  and  the  Rev.  James  Chisholm  called  to  be 
its  rector.  After  labouring  zealously  and  preaching  faithfully  and 
affectionately  for  some  years,  he  fell  a  victim,  during  the  summer 
of  1855,  to  the  yellow  fever,  when,  with  the  spirit  of  a  martyr,  he 
was  nursing  the  sick  and  dying  of  his  congregation  and  of  the 
town.  For  the  particulars  of  the  life  and  death  and  character  of 
this  most  talented  and  interesting  young  minister  of  the  Gospel,  I 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  281 

refer  my  readers  to  the  Memoirs  of  the  Rev.  James  Chisholm,  by 
his  particular  friend  and  former  parishioner,  Mr.  Conrad,  of  Mar- 
tinsburg, — a  biography  which  for  thrilling  interest  is  not  easily 
surpassed.  For  the  biography  of  his  brother  and  companion  in 
toils  and  sufferings  and  death,  the  Rev.  William  Jackson,  the 
minister  of  St.  Paul's,  Norfolk,  I  refer  in  like  manner  for  a  faith- 
ful sketch  of  him  to  the  work  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cummings. 

I  now  add,  what  was  omitted  in  the  proper  place,  that  it  was  to 
the  labours  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Boyden,  during  the  rectorship  of  Dr. 
Ducachet  in  Christ  Church,  that  the  congregation  of  St.  Paul's 
owed  its  revival  after  a  long,  deathlike  slumber.  Its  life  was  con- 
tinued and  its  energies  increased  under  his  successor,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Atkinson.  The  Rev.  B.  M.  Miller,  who  followed  him,  increased  it 
still  more,  especially  by  his  attention  to  the  poor.  The  Rev.  Mr. 
Caldwell  was  doing  a  good  work,  when  failing  health  required  his 
withdrawal.  The  Rev.  Joseph  Wilmer  and  Leonidas  Smith  had 
each  rendered  temporary  services,  not  to  be  regarded  as  those  of 
regular  pastors,  as  had  also  the  Rev.  R.  K.  Meade;  but  it  was 
reserved  for  the  Rev.  William  Jackson  and  his  faithful  and 
acceptable  services  to  fill  the  church  to  such  overflowing  that  it 
was  evident,  if  his  life  had  been  spared,  a  new  and  larger  church 
would  have  been  built  for  him.  His  successor  is  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Okeson. 


282  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 


ARTICLE  XXIII. 

Parishes  in  Nansemond. — No.  1. 

THERE  were  settlements  in  Nansemond  at  a  very  early  period. 
The  Acts  of  Assembly  in  dividing  counties  and  parishes  are  nearly 
all  of  its  early  history  that  can  be  gotten.  A  vestry-book  of  the 
upper  parish,  commencing  in  1743  and  continuing  to  1787, 
contains  all  the  statistics  I  can  get.  These  are  painfully  interest- 
ing. But  as  I  propose  to  follow  the  course  of  the  North  Carolina 
and  Virginia  line  in  some  of  the  following  articles, — if  materials 
can  be  obtained  in  time, — I  think  it  best  to  begin  with  some  notice 
of  the  borders  on  that  line.  The  running  of  it,  in  the  year  1728, 
by  Colonel  Byrd,  Fitz  William,  and  Dandridge,  commissioners  on" 
the  part  of  Virginia,  and  others  on  the  part  of  Carolina,  led 
to  some  information  which  must  be  interesting  to  all  who  take 
pleasure  in  such  things,  and  especially  to  the  citizens  and  Church- 
men of  the  two  States.  This  has  recently  been  given  to  the 
public  in  a  small  volume  entitled  "  Westover  Manuscripts," — 
taken  from  a  large  folio  volume  of  Colonel  Byrd's  manuscripts  on 
various  subjects,  which  is  in  the  hands  of  one  of  his  descendants, 
or  deposited  for  safe-keeping  in  the  rooms  of  the  Historical  So- 
ciety of  Virginia,  in  Richmond.  Colonel  Byrd  was  a  man  of 
great  enterprise,  a  classical  scholar  and  very  sprightly  writer. 
The  fault  of  his  works  is  an  exuberance  of  humour  and  of  jesting 
with  serious  things,  which  sometimes  degenerates  into  that  kind 
of  wit  which  so  disfigures  and  injures  the  writings  of  Shakspeare. 
Although  he  never  loses  an  opportunity  of  a  playful  remark  about 
Christians,  and  especially  the  clergy,  it  is  proof  of  an  admission 
on  his  part  that  Christianity  is  divine  and  excellent,  that  he  took 
with  him,  on  this  difficult  and  somewhat  hazardous  expedition,  the 
Rev.  Peter  Fontaine,  his  parish  minister,  to  be  chaplain  to  the 
joint  company,  with  a  salary  of  twenty  pounds  for  the  expedition. 
Of  Mr.  Fontaine,  the  Huguenot  minister,  we  have  something  to 
say  in  the  proper  place.  His  conduct  in  this  journey,  and  all  the 
witticisms  of  Colonel  Byrd,  testify  to  his  piety.  What  I  have  to 
say  will  be  chiefly  in  the  language  of  Mr.  Byrd's  journal,  which  is 
to  be  taken  with  the  qualifications  above  stated.  After  the  com- 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  283 

missioners  had  wandered  for  some  time  about  the  Dismal  Swamp, 
they  reach  "  Colonel  Andrew  Meade's,  who  lives  upon  Nansemond 
River.  They  were  no  sooner  under  the  shelter  of  that  hospitable 
roof  but  it  began  to  rain  hard,  and  continued  so  to  do  during  the 
night."  On  leaving  that,  with  a  cart-load  of  provisions  to  eat 
and  drink,  which  Colonel  Meade  insisted  on  sending  with  them, 
he  says, — 

"  We  passed  by  no  less  than  two  Quaker  meeting-houses.  That  per- 
suasion prevails  much  in  the  lower  end  of  Nansemond  county,  for  want 
of  ministers  to  pilot  the  people  a  decenter  way  to  heaven.  The  ill  repu- 
tation of  the  tobacco  in  these  lower  parishes  makes  the  clergy  unwilling 
to  accept  of  them,  except  such  whose  abilities  are  as  mean  as  their  pay. 
People  uninstructed  in  any  religion  are  apt  to  embrace  the  first  that  offers. 
It  is  natural  for  helpless  man  to  adore  his  Maker  in  some  form  or  other; 
and,  were  there  any  exception  to  this  rule,  I  should  expect  it  to  be 
among  the  Hottentots  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  of  North  Carolina. 
....  For  want  of  men  in  Holy  Orders,  both  the  members  of  the  Council 
and  magistrates  are  empowered  to  marry  all  those  who  will  not  take  each 
other's  word.  But  for  the  ceremony  of  christening  their  children  they 
leave  that  to  chance.  If  a  parson  comes  in  their  way,  they  will  crave  a 
cast  of  their  office,  as  they  call  it;  else  they  are  content  that  their  children 
should  remain  as  arrant  pagans  as  themselves.  They  do  not  know  Sunday 
from  any  other  day  any  more  than  Robinson  Crusoe,  which  would  give 
them  a  great  advantage  were  they  given  to  be  industrious." 

During  a  few  days'  delay  at  a  certain  point,  the  chaplain  was  al- 
lowed "  to  take  a  turn  to  Edenton,  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  infi- 
dels and  to  christen  the  children  there."  Of  Edenton  at  that  time 
he  says,  "  I  believe  this  is  the  only  metropolis  in  the  Christian  or 
Mohammedan  world  where  there  is  neither  church,  chapel,  mosque, 
synagogue,  or  any  other  place  of  public  worship  of  any  sect  or  re- 
ligion whatever.  Justice  herself  is  but  indifferently  lodged,  the 
court-house  having  much  the  air  of  a  common  tobacco-house." 
"Our  chaplain,"  the  journal  proceeds,  "returned  to  us,  having 
preached  in  the  court-house  and  made  no  less  than  nineteen  Chris- 
tians,— that  is,  baptized  so  many." 

On  their  route  the  company  stop  and  tarry  for  a  time  at  Nottoway 
Town,  which  must  be  near  the  dividing  line  and  either  in  Nanse- 
mond or  Southampton,  and  which  we  suppose  to  be  Christina,  where 
the  Indian  school  was,  and  of  which  we  shall  soon  speak.  Of  the 
people  of  Nottoway  Town,  Colonel  Byrd  thus  writes  : — 

"  The  whole  number  of  people  belonging  to  the  Nottoway  Town,  if  you 
include  women  and  children,  amounts  to  about  two  hundred.  These  are 
the  only  Indians  of  any  consequence  now  remaining  within  the  limits  of 
Virginia.  The  rest  are  either  removed  or  dwindled  to  a  very  incon- 


284  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,   AND 

siderable  number,  either  by*  destroying  one  another,  or  else  by  smallpox 
or  other  diseases;  though  nothing  has  been  so  fatal  to  them  as  their 
ungovernable  passion  for  rum,  with  which,  I  am  sorry  to  say  it,  they  have 
been  but  too  liberally  supplied  by  the  English  that  live  near  them.  And 
here  I  must  lament  the  bad  success  Mr.  Boyle's  charity  has  hitherto  had 
toward  converting  any  of  these  poor  heathen  to  Christianity.  Many 
children  of  our  neighbouring  Indians  have  been  brought  up  in  the  College 
of  William  and  Mary.  They  have  been  taught  to  read  and  write,  and 
have  been  carefully  instructed  in  the  Christian  religion  till  they  came  to 
be  men;  yet  after  they  returned  home,  instead  of  civilizing  and  con- 
verting the  rest,  they  have  immediately  relapsed  into  infidelity  and  bar- 
barism themselves. 

"And  some  of  them,  too,  have  made  the  worst  use  of  the  knowledge 
they  acquired  among  the  English,  by  employing  it  against  their  bene- 
factors. Besides,  as  they  unhappily  forget  all  the  good  they  learn  and 
remember  the  ill,  they  are  apt  to  be  more  vicious  and  disorderly  than  the 
rest  of  their  countrymen.  I  ought  not  to  quit  this  subject  without  doing 
justice  to  the  great  prudence  of  Colonel  Spottswood  in  this  aifair.  This 
gentleman  was  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Virginia  when  Carolina  was  en- 
gaged in  a  bloody  war  with  the  Indians.  At  that  critical  time  it  was 
thought  expedient  to  keep  a  watchful  eye  upon  our  tributary  savages, 
whom  we  knew  had  nothing  to  keep  them  to  their  duty  but  their  fears. 
Then  it  was  that  he  demanded  of  each  nation  a  competent  number  of  their 
great  men's  children  to  be  sent  to  the  College,  where  they  served  as  so 
many  hostages  for  the  good  behaviour  of  the  rest,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
were  themselves  principled  in  the  Christian  religion.  He  also  placed  a 
schoolmaster  among  the  Saponi  Indians,  at  a  salary  of  fifty  pounds  per 
annum,  to  instruct  their  children.  The  person  that  undertook  that  cha- 
ritable work  was  Mr.  Charles  Griffin,  a  man  of  good  family,  who,  by  the 
innocence  of  his  life  and  the  sweetness  of  his  temper,  was  perfectly  well 
qualified  for  that  pious  undertaking.  Besides,  he  had  so  much  the  secret 
of  mixing  pleasure  with  instruction,  that  he  had  not  a  scholar  who  did 
not  love  him  affectionately.  Such  talents  must  needs  have  been  blessed 
with  a  proportionate  success,  had  he  not  been  unluckily  removed  to  the 
College,  by  which  he  left  the  good  work  he  had  begun  unfinished.  In 
short,  all  the  pains  he  had  taken  among  the  infidels  had  no  other  effect 
than  to  make  them  cleanlier  than  other  Indians  are.  The  care  Colonel 
Spottswood  took  to  tincture  the  Indian  children  with  Christianity  produced 
the  following  epigram,  which  was  not  published  during  his  administration, 
for  fear  it  might  then  have  looked  like  flattery : — 

"  '  Long  has  the  furious  priest  assay 'd  in  vain 
With  sword  and  fagot  infidels  to  gain ; 
But  now  the  milder  soldier  wisely  tries, 
By  gentler  methods,  to  unveil  their  eyes. 
Wonders  apart,  he  knew  'twere  vain  t'engage 
The  fixed  perversions  of  misguided  age : 
With  fairer  hopes,  he  forms  the  Indian  youth 
To  early  manners,  probity,  and  truth. 
The  lion's  whelp,  thus,  on  the  Libyan  shore, 
Is  tamed  and  gentled  by  the  artful  Moor, 
Not  the  grim  sire  inured  to  blood  before.' 

"I  am  sorry  I  cannot  give  a  better  account  of  the  state  of  the  poor 
Indians  with  respect  to  Christianity,  although  a  great  deal  of  pains  has 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  285 

been  taken  and  still  continues  to  be  taken  with  them.  For  rny  part,  I 
must  be  of  opinion,  as  I  hinted  before,  that  there  is  but  one  way  of  con- 
verting these  poor  infidels  and  reclaiming  them  from  barbarity,  and  that 
is,  charitably  to  intermarry  with  them,  according  to  the  modern  policy  of 
the  most  Christian  King  in  Canada  and  Louisiana.  Had  the  English  done 
this  at  the  first  settlement  of  the  Colony,  the  infidelity  of  the  Indians  had 
been  worn  out  at  this  day,  with  their  dark  complexions,  and  the  country 
had  swarmed  with  people  more  than  it  does  with  insects.  It  was  certainly 
an  unreasonable  nicety  that  prevented  their  entering  into  so  good-natured 
an  alliance.  All  nations  of  men  have  the  same  natural  dignity,  and  we 
all  know  that  very  bright  talents  may  be  lodged  under  a  very  dark  skin. 
The  principal  difference  between  one  people  and  another  proceeds  only 
from  the  different  opportunities  of  improvement.  The  Indians  by  no 
means  want  understanding,  and  are  in  figure  tall,  and  well  proportioned. 
Even  their  copper-coloured  complexions  would  admit  of  blanching,  if  not 
in  the  first,  at  the  furthest  in  the  second  generation.  I  may  safely  ven- 
ture to  say,  the  Indian  women  would  have  made  altogether  as  honest 
wives  for  the  first  planters  as  the  damsels  they  used  to  purchase  from 
aboard  the  ships.  It  is  strange,  therefore,  that  any  good  Christian  should 
have  refused  a  wholesome  straight  bedfellow  when  he  might  have  had  so 
fair  a  portion  with  her  as  the  merit  of  saving  her  soul." 

Colonel  Byrd  often  speaks  of  Mr.  Fontaine  as  preaching  to  the 
heathen  of  North  Carolina,  and  baptizing  their  children  to  the 
number  of  one  hundred  during  the  route,  and  in  his  way  taunts 
the  Carolinians  for  not  caring  for  the  souls  of  their  children  enough 
to  take  the  trouble  of  bringing  them  over  into  Virginia  to  have 
them  made  Christians,  and  thinks  that  if  the  clergy  of  Virginia 
were  as  zealous  as  they  ought  to  be,  they  would  make  more  fre- 
quent excursions  into  Carolina  for  the  same  purpose.  He  was 
under  the  impression  that  there  was  not  a  single  minister  in  North 
Carolina.  In  this  he  was,  we  think,  mistaken,  although  correct  in 
the  statement  that  the  moral  and  religious  condition  of  the  people 
was  most  deplorable,  and  that  the  clergy,  when  any  were  there, 
were  not  allowed  to  marry,  the  perquisite  for  this  being  claimed  by 
the  magistrates.  The  following  statement,  in  the  third  Volume  of 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Anderson's  History  of  the  Colonial  Churches,  is 
doubtless  the  true  one.  Speaking  of  the  missionaries  sent  out  by 
the  Propagation  Society  in  the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  he 
says : — 

"  Foremost  among  these  were  the  services  of  John  Blair,  who  first  came 
out  in  1704  as  an  itinerant  missionary  through  the  courtesy  of  Lord  Wey- 
mouth,  and,  after  suffering  many  hardships,  returned  to  encounter  them  a 
second  time  as  one  of  the  permanent  missionaries  of  the  Society  and  Com- 
missary of  the  Bishop  of  London.  At  the  time  of  Blair's  first  visit,  he 
found  three  small  churches  already  built  in  the  Colony,  with  glebes  belong- 
ing to  them.  His  fellow-labourers  sent  out  by  the  Society  in  1707  and 
the  few  next  years  were  Adams,  Gordon,  Urmston,  Rainsford,  Newman, 


286  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

Garzia,  and  Moir,  some  of  "whom,  worn  out  by  the  difficulties  and  dis- 
tresses which  poverty  and  fatigue  and  the  indifference  or  hostility  of  the 
people  brought  upon  them,  returned  not  long  afterward  to  England. 
Compelled  to  lodge,  when  at  home,  in  some  old  tobacco-house,  and,  when 
they  travelled,  to  lie  oftentimes  whole  nights  in  the  woods,  and  to  live  for 
days  together  upon  no  other  food  but  bread  moistened  in  brackish  water, 
journeying  amid  deep  swamps  and  along  broken  roads  through  a  wild  and 
desert  country,  and  finding  themselves  at  the  distance  of  every  twenty 
miles  upon  the  banks  of  some  broad  river,  which  they  could  only  cross  by 
good  boats  and  experienced  watermen,  neither  of  which  aids  were  at  their 
command ;  encountering  upon  some  of  the  plantations  the  violent  opposi- 
tion of  various  non-conformists,  already  settled  there  in  preponderating 
numbers ;  receiving  in  others  the  promise  of  some  small  stipend  from  the 
vestry,  which  was  called  a  (  living/  and,  if  paid  at  all,  was  paid  in  bills 
which  could  only  be  disposed  of  at  an  excessive  discount ;  forced,  there- 
fore, to  work  hard  with  axe  and  hoe  and  spade  to  keep  themselves  and 
their  families  from  starving,  and  discerning  not  in  any  quarter  a  single  ray 
of  earthly  hope  or  comfort, — it  cannot  be  a  matter  of  surprise  that  some  of 
them  should  have  sought  once  more  the  shelter  and  rest  of  their  native 
land.  Governor  Eden,  and,  after  him,  Sir  Richard  Everett,  both  appear 
to  have  done  what  they  could  to  bring  about  a  better  state  of  things ;  and, 
at  a  later  period,  (1762,)  Arthur  Dobbs,  who  filled  the  same  high  office, 
made  earnest  but  vain  appeals  to  the  authorities  at  home,  that  a  Bishop 
might  be  sent  out  to  the  Province.  The  Assembly,  also,  had  passed  an 
act  as  early  as  the  year  1715,  by  which  the  whole  Province  was  divided 
into  nine  parishes,  and  a  stipend,  not  exceeding  fifty  pounds,  was  fixed 
for  their  respective  ministers  by  the  vestries.  But,  regard  being  had  to 
the  peculiar  condition  of  the  Colony  at  that  time,  the  letter  of  such  an 
enactment  served  only  to  provoke  and  aggravate  dissensions.  There  was 
no  spirit  of  hearty  co-operation  in  the  great  body  of  the  people ;  and  the 
unwillingness  of  the  magistrates  of  the  several  districts  to  set  an  example 
of  earnest  and  true  devotion  may  be  learned  from  a  strange  fact  recorded 
by  Blair  upon  his  first  visit  to  the  Province, — that,  while  he  administered 
every  other  ordinance  required  of  him  by  the  Church,  he  abstained  from 
celebrating  any  marriage,  because  the  fee  given  upon  such  occasions  was  a 
perquisite  belonging  to  the  magistrates,  which  he  was  not  desirous  to 
deprive  them  of. 

"  Of  the  zeal  and  diligence  of  the  clergy  of  North  Carolina,  whose 
names  I  have  given  above,  the  reports  which  reached  the  Society  in  Eng- 
land were  uniformly  satisfactory-  and  a  deeper  feeling,  therefore,  of  regret 
arises,  that  one  of  them  should  afterward  have  forfeited  his  good  name 
at  Philadelphia. 

"  Two  more  of  the  North  Carolina  clergy  at  this  time  deserve  to  be 
named  with  especial  honour,  because  they  had  both  resided  as  laymen  for 
some  years  in  the  Province,  and  therefore  been  eye-witnesses  of  the  hard- 
ships to  which  the  Church  there  was  exposed.  Nevertheless,  they  came 
forward  with  resolute  and  hopeful  spirit  to  encounter  them,  and  were  ad- 
mitted into  the  ranks  of  her  ordained  missionaries.  The  first  of  these — 
John  Boyd — received  from  the  Bishop  of  London  authority  to  enter  upon 
his  arduous  work  in  1732 ;  and  the  manner  in  which  he  discharged  his 
duties  in  Albemarle  county,  North  Carolina,  until  his  death,  six  years 
afterward,  proved  how  fitly  it  had  been  conferred  upon  him. 

"  The  other — Clement  Hall — pursued  a  yet  more  distinguished  course, 


FAMILIES    OP  VIRGINIA.  287 

and  for  a  longer  period.  He  had  formerly  been  in  the  commission  of  the 
peace  for  the  Colony,  and  had  officiated  for  several  years  as  lay-reader  in 
congregations  which  could  not  obtain  the  services  of  an  ordained  minister. 
The  testimony  borne  to  him  in  the  letters  which  he  took  with  him  to 
England,  in  1743,  from  the  Attorney-General,  sheriffs,  and  clergy  of  the 
Province,  was  amply  verified  by  the  zeal  and  piety  with  which  he  after- 
ward fulfilled  the  labours  of  his  mission.  Although  chiefly  confined  to 
Chowan  county,  it  was  extended  at  stated  periods  to  three  others ;  and  the 
number  and  variety  of  his  services  may  be  learned  in  some  degree  from 
one  of  his  earliest  reports,  from  which  it  appears  that  he  had  preached 
sixteen  times  and  baptized  above  four  hundred  children  and  twenty  adults 
in  three  weeks.  But  the  mere  recital  of  numbers  would  describe  very 
imperfectly  the  amount  of  labour  involved  in  such  visitations.  The  dis- 
tance and  difficulties  of  the  journeys  they  required  must  also  be  taken 
into  account;  and,  in  the  case  of  Hall,  the  difficulties  became  greater 
through  his  own  weakness  of  health.  But  no  sooner  did  he  end  one  visi- 
tation than  he  made  preparation  for  another ;  and,  except  when  sickness 
laid  him  prostrate,  his  work  ceased  not  for  a  single  day.  In  the  face  of 
much  opposition  and  discouragement,  he  still  pressed  onward,  and  in 
many  places  was  cheered  by  the  eager  sympathy  of  the  people.  The 
chapels  and  court-houses  of  the  different  settlements  which  he  visited 
were  seldom  large  enough  to  contain  half  the  numbers  who  flocked  toge- 
ther to  hear  him.  Sometimes  the  place  of  their  solemn  meeting  was 
beneath  the  shades  of  the  forest;  at  other  times,  by  the  river-side  or  upon 
the  sea-shore,  the  same  work  of  truth  and  holiness  was  permitted  to  '  have 
free  course  and  be  glorified/  A  summary  of  the  labours  of  Clement 
Hall,  made  about  eight  years  after  he  had  entered  upon  them,  shows  that 
at  that  time  (1752)  he  had  journeyed  about  fourteen  thousand  miles, 
preached  nearly  seven  hundred  sermons,  baptized  more  than  six  thousand 
children  and  grown-up  persons,  (among  whom  were  several  hundred 
negroes  and  Indians,)  administered  the  Lord's  Supper  frequently  to  as 
many  as  two  or  three  hundred  in  a  single  journey,  besides  performing  the 
countless  other  offices  of  visiting  the  sick,  of  churching  of  women,  and 
of  catechizing  the  young,  which  he  was  everywhere  careful  to  do." 

The  reader  will  more  than  excuse  us  for  the  foregoing  notices 
of  the  early  condition  of  our  sister  State  and  diocese  of  North 
Carolina. 

According  to  promise,  I  now  present  a  view  of  the  Indian  school 
at  Christina,  in  a  report  to  the  Bishop  of  London  by  its  teacher, 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Griffin  :— 

"CHRISTINA,  January  12,  1716. 

"  MY  LORD  : — Being  employed  by  Colonel  Spottswood,  our  Governor, 
to  instruct  the  Indian  children  at  this  settlement,  I  thought  it  my  duty  to 
address  your  lordship  with  this,  in  which  I  humbly  beg  leave  to  inform 
you  what  progress  I  have  made  in  carrying  on  this  charitable  design  of 
our  excellent  Governor.  Should  I  presume  to  give  an  account  of  the  kind 
reception  I  met  with  at  my  arrival  here  from  the  Indian  Queen,  the  great 
men,  and,  indeed,  from  all  the  Indians,  with  a  constant  continuance  of 
their  kindness  and  respect,  and  of  the  great  sense  they  have  of  the  good 
that  is  designed  them  by  the  Governor  in  sending  me  to  live  with  them 


OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,   AND 

to  teach  their  children,  as  also  at  the  great  expense  he  has  been  at,  and 
the  many  fatigues  he  has  undergone  by  travelling  hither  in  the  heat  of 
summer,  as  well  as  in  the  midst  of  winter,  to  the  great  hazard  of  his 
health,  to  encourage  and  promote  this  most  pious  undertaking,  I  should 
far  exceed  the  bounds  of  a  letter,  and  intrude  too  much  on  your  lordship's 
time.  I  shall,  therefore,  decline  this,  and  humbly  represent  to  your  lord- 
ship what  improvements  the  pagan  children  have  made  in  the  knowledge 
of  the  Christian  religion,  which  I  promise  myself  can't  but  be  very  ac- 
ceptable to  you,  a  pious  Christian  Bishop.  We  have  here  a  very  hand- 
some school-house,  built  at  the  charge  of  the  Indian  Company,  in  which 
are  at  present  taught  seventy  Indian  children ;  and  many  others  from  the 
Western  Indians,  who  live  more  than  four  hundred  miles  from  hence,  will 
be  brought  hither  in  the  spring  to  be  put  under  my  care,  in  order  to  be 
instructed  in  the  religion  of  the  Holy  Jesus.  The  greatest  number  of  my 
scholars  can  say  the  Belief,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  Ten  Commandments, 
perfectly  well ;  they  know  that  there  is  but  one  God,  and  they  are  able  to 
tell  me  how  many  persons  there  are  in  the  Godhead,  and  what  each  of 
those  blessed  Persons  have  done  for  them.  They  know  how  many  sacra- 
ments Christ  hath  ordained  in  his  Church,  and  for  what  end  he  instituted 
them ;  they  behave  themselves  reverently  at  our  daily  prayers,  and  can 
make  their  responses,  which  was  no  little  pleasure  to  their  great  and  good 
benefactor,  the  Governor,  as  also  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  John  Cargill,  Mr.  Attor- 
ney-General, and  many  other  gentlemen  who  attended  him  in  his  progress 
hither.  Thus,  niy  lord,  hath  the  Governor  (notwithstanding  the  many 
difficulties  he  laboured  under)  happily  laid  the  foundation  of  this  great 
and  good  work  of  civilizing  and  converting  these  poor  Indians,  who, 
although  they  have  lived  many  years  among  the  professors  of  the  best 
and  most  holy  religion  in  the  world,  yet  so  little  care  has  been  taken  to 
instruct  them  therein,  that  they  still  remain  strangers  to  the  covenant  of 
grace,  and  have  not  improved  in  any  thing  by  their  conversing  with  Chris- 
tians, excepting  in  vices  to  which  before  they  were  strangers,  which  is  a 
very  sad  and  melancholy  reflection.  But  that  God  may  crown  with  suc- 
cess this  present  undertaking,  that  thereby  his  Kingdom  may  be  enlarged 
by  the  sincere  conversion  of  these  poor  heathen,  I  humbly  recommend 
both  it  and  myself  to  your  lordship's  prayers,  and  beg  leave  to  subscribe 
myself,  with  great  duty,  my  lord,  your  lordship's 

"  Most  dutiful  and  most  obedient,  humble  servant, 

"  CHARLES  GRIFFIN." 

I  am  sorry  to  add  that,  Mr.  Griffin's  labours  proving  much  less 
successful  at  Christina  than  he  fondly  anticipated  in  his  letter,  he 
was  some  years  after  this  removed  to  the  Braflerton  Professorship 
at  William  and  Mary  College,  and  the  institution  at  Christina 
abandoned.  He,  however,  still  continued  to  pay  attention  to  such 
Indian  youth  as  came  to  the  College. 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  289 


ARTICLE  XXIV. 

Parishes  in  Nansemond. — No.  2. 

HAVING  thus  availed  myself  of  the  journal  of  Colonel  Byrd,  and 
the  report  of  Mr.  Griffin  concerning  the  Indian  School,  and  Mr. 
Anderson's  account  of  the  Church  in  North  Carolina,  I  return  to 
the  brief  sketch  of  the  Church  in  Nansemond.  It  was  divided  into 
two  parishes, — the  upper  and  lower.  The  lower  was  sometimes 
called  Suffolk  parish,  although  the  town  of  Suffolk  was  in  the 
upper  parish.  All  that  I  have  yet  learned  of  the  Suffolk  or  lower 
parish  is,  that  there  are  two  old  brick  churches  in  it,  one  on  the 
left  and  the  other  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Nansemond  River,  each 
about  ten  miles  from  Suffolk.  There  is  a  valuable  glebe  attached 
to  them,  which,  being  a  private  donation,  has  not  been  touched. 
There  is  no  minister  in  the  parish. 

The  vestry-book  of  the  upper  parish  dates  back  as  far  as 
November  30th,  1743.  At  the  first  vestry-meeting  there  were 
present  Colonel  Andrew  Meade,  Edward  Norfleet,  Lemuel  Reddick, 
John  Gregorie,  John  Norfleet,  Daniel  Pugh,  Jethro  Sumner.  In 
the  year  1744  Captain  William  Wright  and  Captain  Williams 
appear  on  the  list,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Balfour  is  minister.  In  the 
year  1745  Mr.  David  Meade  and  Mr.  Daniel  Pugh  take  the  places 
of  Colonel  Andrew  Meade  and  Colonel  Daniel  Pugh,  the  sons  suc- 
ceeding the  fathers.  In  this  year  the  Rev.  Mr.  Balfour  is  arraigned 
by  the  vestry  for  drunkenness,  swearing,  and  other  vices,  and  nothing 
more  is  heard  of  him.  In  the  year  1746  Henry  Temple,  Christo- 
pher Norfleet,  Miles  Reddick,  and  Mr.  Wimburn  are  vestrymen. 
In  this  year  a  new  brick  church  is  ordered  in  Suffolk  in  the  place 
of  the  old  one.  In  the  year  1747  the  Rev.  Willis  Webb  is  elected 
minister,  Richard  Baker  chosen  vestryman,  and  a  chapel  at  Holy 
Neck  ordered, — the  minister  to  preach  at  Middle  Chapel  and 
Somerton  Chapel  until  the  new  chapel  is  built.  In  the  year  1748 
the  order  for  a  new  church  at  Suffolk  is  renewed.  It  is  to  be  a 
handsome  brick  church,  and  David  Meade  and  Lemuel  Reddick 
allowed  to  put  up,  at  their  own  expense,  galleries  for  their  families. 
Win.  Moore,  Thomas  Sumner,  Messrs.  Hunter  and  Rawles,  Henry 
Holland,  and  John  Ashburn,  vestrymen.  In  the  year  1758  a 
chapel  is  ordered  at  Mr.  Norfleet's,  like  that  at  Nottoway.  Richard 

19 


J 
290  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

Webb,  James  Gibson,  Jt)siah  Reddick,  are  elected  vestrymen.     In 
the  year  1760  the  Rev.  Mr.  Webb  either  died  or  removed,  having 
been  minister  without  reproof  for  thirteen  years.     In  the  same 
year  the  Rev.  Patrick  Lunan  is  chosen  to  preach  at  Nottoway 
Chapel,  Cypress  Chapel,  Holy  Neck,  and  Suffolk  Church,  and  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Burgess  assisted.     In  the  year  1766  Jeremiah  Godwin 
was  chosen  vestryman,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lunan  was  presented  by 
the  vestry  to  Commissary  Robinson ;  and  in  the  following  year  Mr. 
David  Meade  and  Thomas  Gilgrist  were  ordered  to  prosecute  the 
case,  and  to  apply  to  the  Attorney-General  and  Mr.  Wm.  Waller. 
This,  and  several  other  cases  in  different  parishes,  led  Commissary 
Robinson  to  write  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  stating  the  uncertainty 
of   the  authority  given  to  the  Commissaries  for  the  purpose  of 
discipline  over  the  clergy.     I  presume  that  no  change  was  made, 
and  this  and  other  cases  were  left  to  be  settled  by  the  vestry  as 
they  could ;  for  we  find  that,  though  this  Mr.  Lunan  did  not  preach 
for  the   parish,  he  held  the  glebe  until  the  year  1775,  when  he 
relinquished  all  claim  on  glebe  and  parish  for  three  hundred  pounds, 
paid  in  three  annual  instalments.     In  the  year  1774  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Agnew  preached  at  Cypress  Church  and  Suffolk,  and  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Burgess  at  Holy  Neck  Chapel  once  a  month.     In  the  year  1775  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Andrews  is  elected.     Going  back  two  years,  we  find  that  in 
the  year  1773  Mr.  Lemuel  Reddick  resigned  on  account  of  age  and 
infirmities,  having  served  forty  years,  and  Mr.  David  Meade  being 
about  to  move  from  the  county,  having  served  twenty-seven  years, 
John    Reddick  and  Andrew  Meade  were   chosen  in  their  room. 
Walls   Cooper,  Willis   Streaton,   and  William  Pugh   and   Samuel 
Cohoon  appear  on  the  vestry.      In  the  year  1777  Mr.  Andrew 
Meade  removed;  and  Jacob  Sumner  resigned.     John  Driver  and 
Christopher  Roberts  were  elected.     In  the  year  1781  John  Brinkle 
and  John  Coles  were  vestrymen.     In  the  year  1785,   according 
to  Act  of  Assembly,  a  new  vestry  was  elected.     There  were  six  of 
the  Roddicks  placed  on  it,  and  Richard  Baker,  Dimsey  Sumner, 
and  John   Giles,  William  King  and  Abraham  Parker.     Richard 
Baker  and  Willis  Reddick  were  appointed  to  attend  the  Episcopal 
Convention   to   be   held   at   Richmond   that  year.     The    church- 
wardens were  directed  to  advertise  for  a  minister.     Meetings  of  the 
vestry  were  also  held  in  the  years  1790  and  1791,  when  Henry 
Harrison    and    Hardy   Parker   were    chosen   vestrymen.       Thus 
closes  the  journal.     The  misconduct  of  several  of  the  ministers, 
and  several  other  circumstances,  had  combined  for  a  long  time  to 
bring  the  Church  and  religion  to  a  sad  condition. 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  291 

On  the  journal  of  the  Convention  of  1785,  the  Eev.  Arthur 
Emmerson  appears  as  the  clerical  delegate,  and  Willis  Reddick, 
Richard  Baker,  and  Solomon  Shepherd  as  lay  delegates.  In  the 
years  1790  and  1791  a  Rev.  Mr.  Taylor  appears  on  the  journals 
from  Suffolk.  In  the  year  1812  the  Rev.  Jacob  Reeling's  name 
appears  on  the  journal,  he  having  been  ordained  by  Bishop  Madi- 
son, but  how  long  before  is  not  known.  The  excellencies  of  this 
simple-hearted  and  single-minded  man  are  known  to  some  now 
living.  During  the  latter  years  of  his  ministry  he  had  much  aid 
from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jones,  of  the  adjoining  parish  in  the  Isle  of 
Wight,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wingfield,  of  Portsmouth.  In  process 
of  time  the  Rev.  Mr.  Disbrough  became  the  minister  of  the  parish, 
and  during  the  period  of  his  ministry  the  present  brick  church  was 
erected.  After  his  departure,  the  Rev.  Aristides  and  the  Rev. 
Leonidas  Smith  rendered  much  service  to  the  congregation  while 
engaged  as  instructors  of  youth  in  Norfolk.  The  Rev.  Chauncey 
Colton  is  its  present  minister. 

Having  thus  presented  the  fullest  sketch  of  the  parish  history  I 
have  been  able  to  get,  I  close,  as  in  some  others,  with  a  notice  of 
some  families  which  once  belonged  to  it.  Though  there  may  be 
others  more  deserving  of  notice,  yet,  as  that  of  my  own  ancestors 
is  the  only  one  known  to  me,  I  will  be  excused  for  saying  something 
of  that.  It  is  chiefly  taken,  even  to  the  letter,  from  papers  found 
among  the  relics  of  the  late  David  Meade,  of  Kentucky,  eldest 
brother  of  my  father,  who  lived  to  be  more  than  ninety  years  of 
age,  and  was  much  addicted  to  the  study  of  genealogy. 

The  family  is-  traced  by  him  to  Thomas  Cromwell,  a  blacksmith 
of  Putney,  in  Ireland,  who  was  the  father  of  Thomas  Cromwell, 
servant  of  Cardinal  Wolsey,  and  his  successor  in  the  favour  of  Henry 
the  Eighth,  but  who,  forfeiting  that,  was  beheaded  by  his  orders. 
Oliver  Cromwell  was  his  nephew.  One  branch  of  this  family  was 
the  Everards,  of  Essex,  from  whom  Richard  Kidder,  Bishop  of 
Bath  and  Wells,  was  derived,  who,  together  with  his  wife,  was 
killed  by  the  falling  upon  them  of  a  stack  of  chimneys  in  a  thunder- 
storm. From  him  came  the  name  of  Richard  Kidder,  so  frequent 
in  the  family,  and  from  the  Everards  the  name  of  Everard,  also 
common  in  the  family.  The  name  of  Oliver  is  also  to  be  found  in 
it.  The  paternal  ancestor  of  the  family  in  this  country,  Andrew 
Meade,  was  born  in  the  county  of  Kerry  and  kingdom  of  Ireland 
about  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Tradition  says, 
that  on  leaving  his  native  country  he  went  first  to  London,  and  from 
thence  came  to  New  York,  where  he,  though  a  Romanist,  married 


292  OLD  CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  AND 

Miss  Mary  Latham,  a  Quakeress,  of  Flushing,  (a  family  still  residing 
there,) — a  heterogeneous  kind  of  union,  less  obnoxious  to  nature  than 
to  bigotry,  says  Mr.  Meade.  Some  five  years  after,  he  removed  to 
Virginia  and  settled  in  Nansemond  county.  It  has  never  been 
certainly  ascertained  whether  he  formally  renounced  the  Catholic 
faith,  though  he  was  for  many  years  a  representative  of  his  county 
in  the  House  of  Burgesses,  judge  of  the  county,  and  colonel  of  the 
militia.* 

He  is  said  to  have  been  a  large,  muscular  man,  of  great  corporal 
strength,  and  rather  hard-featured  in  the  face,  but  of  fine  form. 
He  died  in  the  year  1745,  leaving  a  character  without  a  stain, 
having  had  the  glorious  epithet  connected  with  it,    The  Honest. 
One  son  and  daughter  were  all  the  children  which  he  left.     His 
son  David  Meade,  and  wife  Susannah,  afforded  their  posterity  an 
example  of  conjugal  felicity  which  has  been  rarely  equalled.     The 
God  of  Love  was  present  at  their  first  interview,  and  made  them 
feel  the  effects  of  his  disposition  at  the  same  moment.     But  there 
was  a  considerable  lapse  of  time  between  their  first  meeting  and 
marriage.     Her  father  was  Governor  Everard,  of  North  Carolina, 
then  living  with  his  family  in  Edenton,  and  was  unwilling  to  leave 
his  daughter  in  the  wilds  of  America  when  he  should  return  home. 
When  about  to  sail, — the  ship  in  which  they  were  to  embark  lying 
in  Hampton  Roads,  then  called  Nansemond  River, — there  was  no 
other  house  at  that  time,  convenient  to  the  place  of  embarkation,  at 
which  they  could   be   well   accommodated   but  Andrew  Meade's. 
To  this  they  went ;  and,  being  detained  some  time  by  adverse  winds, 
or  other  causes,  the  earnest  entreaties  of  a  most  affectionate  father, 
almost  distracted  at  the  thought  of  parting  with  his  only  son,  (who 
was  determined  to  follow  her,)  at  length  prevailed,  and  they  were 
immediately  married  ;f  and  the  daughter  of  Andrew  Meade  was 
named  Priscilla,  and  married  a  Mr.  Wilson  Curie,  of  Hampton,  by 
whom  she  had  two  daughters  and  not  less  than  six  sons. 


*  From  his  holding  these  offices,  we  may  certainly  conclude  that  he  had  renounced 
it,  since  test-oaths  were  required  of  such  officers,  and  he  was  reputed  to  be  an 
honest  man.  In  this  I  am  further  confirmed  by  the  fact,  that  the  name  of  Colonel 
Andrew  Meade  stands  first  on  the  list  of  vestrymen  in  the  year  1743,  when  the  list 
I  have  commences.  He  was  at  Suffolk,  and  a  hospitable  entertainer,  in  1728,  as 
Colonel  Byrd  testifies. 

f  The  case  of  David  Meade  and  Susannah  Everard  had  something  so  touching 
in  it  as  to  give  rise  to  some  little  novel  or  poem,  but  of  which  nothing  remains  but 
uncertain  tradition.  David  Meade  is  represented  as  rigid  in  his  morals,  and  one 
who  could  not  tolerate  vice.  He  was  active  in  enforcing  discipline  against  evil 
ministers. 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  298 

David  Meade  had  two  daughters  and  five  sons.  His  daughters 
were  Anne,  who  married  Richard  Randolph,  of  Curls,  and  Mary, 
who  married  Colonel  Walker,  each  of  them  leaving  many  children, 
who  are  scattered  over  the  land.  The  sons  were  David  Meade,  who 
inherited  the  estate  in  Nansemond,  married  a  Miss  Waters,  of 
Williamsburg,  then  settled  at  Macox,  in  Prince  George,  then  re- 
moved to  Kentucky,  devoting  his  time  and  fortune  to  the  improve- 
ment of  the  seats  on  which  he  lived,  and  which  were  celebrated  all 
over  Virginia  and  Kentucky.  The  others  were  R.  K.  Meade,  aid 
to  General  Washington,  Everard  Meade,  aid  to  General  Lincoln 
and  afterward  raised  to  the  rank  of  General,  Andrew  Meade,  who 
settled  in  Brunswick,  and  John,  who  died  in  his  youth.  The  three 
elder  children  were  sent  to  England  for  their  education,  and  placed 
under  the  care  of  Dr.  Thackery,  the  Principal  of  Harrow  School, 
and  Archdeacon  of  Surrey.  The  celebrated  Sir  William  Jones,  Sir 
Joseph  Banks,  and  Dr.  Parr  were  at  that  time  among  its  scholars.* 

As  it  is  good  sometimes  to  wander  amidst  ruins  and  graveyards, 
I  will  take  my  readers  for  a  few  moments  to  the  spot  where  my 
ancestors  lived  and  some  of  them  died  and  were  buried,  and  from 
whence  they  will  rise  up  on  the  great  day.  It  stands  on  an  eminence 
about  a  mile  back  of  the  town  of  Suffolk.  An  avenue  of  trees  led 
from  it  to  the  church  in  Suffolk,  through  which  the  family,  at  the 
sound  of  the  bell,  repaired  to  church.  Andrew  Meade,  having  made 
a  handsome  fortune,  first  by  the  fur-trade  with  Indians  up  the 
Roanoke  in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  and  then  by  the  lumber- 
trade,  built  a  large  house  on  this  spot  for  his  residence,  and  store- 
houses also,  as  he  still  carried  on  trade  by  a  creek  which  came  up 
almost  to  his  door.  The  mansion  has  long  since  been  consumed  by 
fire,  and  the  other  houses  mouldered  into  ruin.  The  estate  has 
passed  into  many  hands  since  the  last  of  the  family  parted  with  it. 
But  there  was  one  spot  which  it  was  hoped  would  be  spared  until 
the  dissolution  of  the  earth, — the  graveyard, — so  well  was  it  guarded. 
It  was  a  small  square  lot,  around  which  cedar-trees  were  planted  so 
thick  that  their  bodies  reached  within  one  or  two  feet  of  each 
other.  A  better  enclosure,  and  one  more  likely  to  endure,  cannot 
well  be  imagined.  I  visited  the  place  some  years  since  for  the  first 


*  The  talented  and  unhappy  Dr.  Dodd,  of  London,  used  to  preach  at  Harrow  to 
the  boys  of  that  school.  I  have  seen  his  sermons  to  them,  and  heard  my  father 
speak  of  his  eloquence.  "When  he  was  executed,  the  boys  of  the  school  were  either 
sent  or  permitted  to  go.  My  father  witnessed  the  scene.  I  may  be  permitted  to 
ddd  concerning  my  father,  that  while  at  the  school  his  teacher  said  of  him  that  he 
would  never  make  a  great  scholar,  but  he  will  be  what  is  much  better, — vir  probus. 


294  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

time,  and  was  sorry  to  find  that  the  last  owner  of  it  had  cut  down 
every  tree  and  converted  them  into  stakes  and  firewood.  The 
stumps,  however,  were  perfectly  apparent.  The  graveyard  was 
thickly  covered  with  grass,  leaves,  briers,  and  shrubs, — so  much  so, 
that  a  friend  and  connection  of  the  family  who  was  with  me  could 
with  difficulty  get  a  few  yards  into  it,  to  search  for  some  memorial 
of  the  dead,  for  nothing  of  the  kind  appeared  on  the  surface.  The 
corner  of  one  slab,  thickly  covered  with  grass  and  mould,  was  all 
that  he  could  see  or  feel.  We  left  the  spot,  convinced  that  a  better 
protection  for  the  place  and  its  monuments,  whatever  they  were, 
could  not  be  provided,  than  that  which  they  then  had.  But  we 
were  mistaken.  A  few  months  since,  I  wrote  to  that  same  friend 
and  companion,  saying  that  in  view  of  this  work  whiph  I  am  now 
engaged  in,  I  wished  him  to  get  some  suitable  hands  with  proper 
implements,  and  remove  all  the  trees,  shrubs,  briers,  and  rubbish, 
so  as  to  find  out  what  was  concealed  by  them.  According  to  my 
request,  he  went  to  the  spot  prepared  to  make  the  examination,  when 
to  his  surprise  he  found  not  a  stump  or  shrub  remaining,  but  only 
a  number  of  small  fragments  of  tombstone  about  the  spot,  which 
was  now  in  the  midst  of  a  cultivated  field,  itself  ploughed  up  and 
cultivated.  The  names  of  Caruthers  and  Vail  were  all  that  could 
be  distinguished.  That  of  Meade  could  not  be  made  out  on  any 
of  the  fragments.  Perhaps  no  tombstone  with  that  name  was 
ever  there,  although  some  of  the  family  must  have  been  buried 
there. 

I  shall  be  excused  for  adding  in  this  place  some  other  particulars 
concerning  my  father.  He  married,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  Miss 
Jane  Randolph,  of  Curls,  sister  of  Richard  Randolph,  who  mar- 
ried his  sister,  and  aunt  of  John  Randolph,  of  Roanoke,  who 
always  called  him  Uncle  Kidder.  His  wife  was  some  years  older 
than  himself,  which  called  from  the  elder  Judge  Tucker  some 
humorous  poetry,  entitled  Happy  Dick,  in  which  he  condoles  with 
the  younger  ladies  on  James  River  upon  their  disappointment. 
This  wife  lived  but  a  few  years,  having  several  children  during  the 
time,  and  leaving  none  behind.  During  his  first  marriage  he  lived 
at  Coggin's  Point,  in  Prince  George,  the  present  possession  and 
residence  of  Edmund  Ruffin,  and  which  he  sold  during  the  war, 
though,  by  means  of  the  depreciation  of  money,  he  realized  but 
little  from  it.  In  Prince  George  he  was  a  vestryman,  but  resigned 
because  the  vestry  would  not  discharge  an  unworthy  clergyman. 
He  entered  early  into  the  Revolutionary  War,  being  one  of  twenty- 
four  persons — among  whom  were  James  Monroe,  George  Wythe, 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  295 

Benjamin  Harrison,  Colonel  Bland,  &c. — who,  in  June,  1775,  seized 
upon  the  arms  and  ammunition  in  Dunmore's  house,  in  Williams- 
burg,  carrying  the  powder  to  the  magazine,  and  dividing  the  arms 
among  themselves  for  safe-keeping  and  the  service  of  the  country. 
In  December  of  that  year  he  was  found  at  the  battle  of  Great 
Bridge,  near  Norfolk, — the  first  battle  fought  in  Virginia.  He  had 
raised  a  company,  and  was  then  serving  as  captain  under  General 
Woodford.  [See  the  account  which  he  gives  in  the  Bland  Papers.] 
He  was  soon  taken  into  the  family  of  General  Washington  as  his  aid, 
and  was  the  most  active  in  reconnoitring,  being  a  good  rider  and 
having  a  fine  animal, — the  black  mare  so  well  known  to  the  British 
as  well  as  American  armies.  [See  Campbell's  History  of  Virginia.] 
He  used  to  say  that  Hamilton  did  all  the  head-work  for  the  General, 
and  he  the  riding,  reconnoitring,  and  carrying  orders  on  the  field. 
He  was  with  Washington  in  all  the  great  battles  of  the  Revolution. 
To  him  was  committed  the  superintendence  of  the  execution  of 
Major  Andre',  of  which  he  always  spoke  with  much  feeling,  saying 
that  he  could  not  forbear  tears  at  seeing  the  execution  of  so  un- 
common and  interesting  a  man,  though  he  entirely  approved  the 
order.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  married  the  widow  of  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Randolph,  of  Chattsworth,  near  Richmond,  the  brother  of 
Governor  Beverly  Randolph,  of  Cumberland,  and  Colonel  Robert 
Randolph,  of  Fauquier.  She  is  mentioned  in  Campbell's  History 
as  among  the  female  contributors  to  the  expenses  of  the  war  in  a 
time  of  great  need.  Her  contribution  was  eight  hundred  dollars. 
Perhaps  this  circumstance  may  have  first  attracted  my  father's 
attention  to  her.  When  Washington  was  taking  leave  of  some  of 
his  aids,  a  circumstance  occurred  which  showed  his  estimate  of 
their  different  characters.  To  Hamilton  he  said,  "You  must  go  to 
the  bar,  which  you  can  reach  in  six  months ;"  to  Laurens,  some- 
thing as  appropriate ;  to  Colonel  Meade,  whom  he  then  called  by 
his  familiar  name,  "Friend  Dick,  you  must  go  to  a  plantation  in 
Virginia ;  you  will  make  a  good  farmer  and  an  honest  foreman  of 
the  grand  jury  of  the  county  where  you  live."  And  so  it  proved; 
for  he  became  a  most  attentive,  successful,  and,  at  first,  hard- 
working farmer,  and  was,  while  health  permitted,  always,  the  fore- 
man of  the  grand  jury  of  the  old  District  Court  of  Frederick 
county.  He  rejoiced  as  a  citizen  in  those  blessings  which  his  mili- 
tary services  had  helped  to  obtain,  and  often  said  that  there  was 
no  debt  he  so  gladly  discharged  as  the  taxes  levied  for  the  main- 
tenance of  our  free  and  happy  government.  He  never  allowed  a 
tax-gatherer  to  come  to  his  house  in  search  of  what  was  due,  but 


296  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

always  anticipated  this  by  paying  it  beforehand  at  some  appointed 
place.  The  same  was  true  of  all  his  debts.  As  infirmities  of  body 
increased,  the  foundation  of  which  were  laid  in  his  exposure  during 
the  war,  and  he  could  no  longer  fell  trees  and  maul  rails  with  the 
very  few  servants  saved  from  the  wreck  of  his  estate,  he  still 
laboured  in  other  ways.  A  box  of  tools,  imported  from  England, 
stood  in  the  corner  of  the  old  log  dining-room,  and  a  saddler's 
bench  during  the  winter  season  was  on  one  side.  All  the  helves, 
rakes,  cradles,  gates,  and  plantation-gear  were  made  by  his  own 
hands ;  and  so  expert  was  he  in  the  latter  manufacture  as  to  pro- 
duce a  compliment  from  an  old  friend,  that  "  a  good  saddler  was 
spoiled  in.-,  the  attempt  to  make  a  gentleman  of  him."  Neverthe- 
less, he  did  not  entirely  discard  books  and  politics,  but  sometimes 
wrote  an  article  for  the  press  on  some  subject  which  deeply  in- 
volved our  country's  interests.  Nor  did  Washington  disdain  to 
consult  with  him  as  to  the  choice  of  officers  when,  in  the  near  pros- 
pect of  war  with  France,  he  was  called  on  once  more  to  head  the 
armies  of  our  country.  The  year  before  the  death  of  Washington, 
my  father  paid  him  a  visit  at  Mount  Yernon.  They  had  not  met 
since  the  close  of  the  war.  The  general  was  on  his  farm.  They 
met  in  one  of  the  fields,  near  a  pair  of  draw-bars.  Each,  recog- 
nising the  other,  dismounted  and  shook  hands  over  them,  the  Ge- 
neral insisting  that  he  would  pull  down  his  own  bars,  and  my  father 
that  he  would  be  his  aid  still. 

My  father  survived  but  a  few  years.  Several  interesting  obitua- 
ries, in  prose  and  verse,  appeared  at  his  death.  From  them  I  take 
the  following  extracts.  The  first  is  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Robert 
Page,  of  Janeville,  Frederick  county: — 

"  His  virtues,  though  of  that  dignified  kind  which  enforce  respect,  were 
yet  so  tempered  by  gentleness  and  condescension  that  they  never  failed 
to  conciliate  affection.  In  public  life  his  conduct  was  such  as  to  secure 
the  esteem  and  friendship  of  those  accurate  discerners  of  merit,  Washing- 
ton and  Hamilton.  This  speaks  sufficiently  his  eulogium.  His  benevo- 
lence was  ardent,  active,  and  disinterested ;  and  one  of  his  greatest  plea- 
sures consisted  in  promoting  the  happiness  and  welfare  of  all  around  him. 
The  death  of  his  friend,  General  Hamilton,  made  an  impression  of  me- 
lancholy on  his  mind,  which,  it  is  believed,  was  not  obliterated  until  the 
hour  of  his  death/7 


The  following  is  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wiley : — 


The  heart  that  beat  for  public  weal, 
Where  justice  held  her  steady  way, 

Where  glow'd  the  flame  of  patriot  zeal, 
Is  now  a  lump  of  inert  clay. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  297 

But  memory  often  shall  rejoice, 

With  pensive  pleasure,  to  retrace 
His  form,  the  accents  of  his  voice, 

And  every  valued  mental  grace. 
His  social  gayety,  whose  flow 

Could  pleasure  ever  new  impart ; 
His  candour,  which  could  never  bow 

To  veil  in  dark  disguise  the  heart ; 
His  goodness,  active,  ardent,  great, 

And  prompt  the  sufferer's  wants  to  aid ; 
These,  whilst  the  pulse  of  life  shall  beat, 

Will  never  from  remembrance  fade." 

The  last  is  from  Mrs.  Mary  Page,  of  Pagebrook,  Frederick 
county : — 

"  Though  wars  have  ceased,  the  hero  claims  renown  ; 
With  choicest  myrtle  let  his  tomb  be  crown'd ; 
And  ye,  sweet  nine,  your  plaintive  tribute  pay, 
And  o'er  his  virtues  shed  a  milder  ray. 
In  scenes  domestic  man  is  truly  known ; 
In  scenes  domestic  Meade  forever  shone. 
His  soul,  unconscious  of  one  narrow  thought, 
Of  self  regardless,  did  the  thing  he  ought. 
Where'er  his  form  benignant  bent  its  way, 
Grim  care  soon  vanish'd  and  each  heart  was  gay. 
At  mercy's  call  he  ever  foremost  press'd ; 
For  meek-eyed  pity  sway'd  his  manly  breast. 
Hasten,  fair  nymphs  of  Frederick's  peaceful  plains; 
Attend,  fond  youths,  to  breathe  your  mournful  strains ; 
Votaries  of  Hymen,  follow  to  deplore 
That  Meade,  your  pride  and  father,  is  no  more. 
But  why,  blest  shade,  should  friends  lament  thy  doom  ? 
Joys  celestial  hover  o'er  thy  tomb ; 
Thy  Mary,  purer  than  the  snowdrop  white, 
Shall  guide  thine  offspring  to  the  realms  of  light." 

I  conclude  this  article  by  a  brief  reference  to  one  individual 
belonging  to  Suffolk  parish,  whom  not  to  mention  in  its  history 
were  an  unpardonable  neglect.  In  the  history  of  Bruton  parish, 
Williamsburg,  we  have  on  the  list  of  vestrymen  and  active  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  the  name  of  Prentiss  more  than  once.  Mr. 
Prentiss,  of  Suffolk,  was  a  worthy  successor  to  the  virtues  of  his 
ancestors.  To  his  persevering  attachment  to  the  Church  of  his 
fathers  during  a  long  and  dark  period  of  almost  despair,  may  be 
mainly  ascribed,  under  God,  its  continuance  in  Suffolk.  A  more 
humble  and  conscientious  Christian  and  more  true-hearted  Epis- 
copalian, a  more  honourable  and  courteous  gentleman,  a  more 
affectionate  husband  and  tender  father,  was,  and  is,  nowhere 


I 

298  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  AND 

to  be  found.  His  descendants  still  cherish  the  Church  in  which 
they  were  trained,  and  will  so  do,  we  trust,  to  the  latest  gene- 
rations. 

Other  members  might,  doubtless,  be  found  among  the  Reddicks, 
the  Joneses,  the  Bakers,  the  Hallidays,  and  other  families  of  the 
parish  of  Suffolk,  most  worthy  of  special  notice ;  but  the  writer  has 
not  the  necessary  information  for  the  purpose. 


FAMILIES  OF  VIRGINIA.  299 


ARTICLE  XXV. 

Parishes  in  Isle  of  Wight  and  Southampton. 

THE  Isle  of  Wight  was  one  of  the  eight  original  shires  in  the 
year  1634,  and  embraced  what  is  now  Southampton,  extending 
from  James  River  to  the  North  Carolina  line, — a  distance  of  ninety 
miles.  The  first  name  it  bore  was  Warrosquoyacke,  which,  in  the 
course  of  three  years,  was  changed  to  its  present.  In  all  the  early 
notices  of  the  Colony  we  have  frequent  mention  of  this  settlement, 
for  it  was  among  the  earliest,  being  not  far  from  Jamestown,  on 
the  other  side  of  the  river.  We  find  in  Henning's  Statutes,  that 
in  1642  it  was  divided  into  two  parishes,  the  upper  and  lower,  or 
Newport  and  Warwicksqueake,  each  extending  the  full  length  of 
the  county,  or  ninety  miles.  The  condition  of  the  division,  how- 
ever, was  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Falkner,  the  minister,  should  not  lose 
any  thing  of  his  salary  by  the  change.  In  the  year  1734,  those 
parts  of  the  two  parishes  which  lay  south  of  Blackwater  were 
united  in  one,  under  the  name  of  Nottoway  parish,  while  those  on 
the  north  of  it  were  to  be  united  under  the  name  of  Newport  parish. 
In  the  year  1748,  fourteen  years  later,  Southampton  was  cut  off 
from  Isle  of  Wight,  the  parish  still  retaining  the  name  of  Nottoway. 
In  the  year  1762  this  was  again  divided  by  the  Nottoway  River 
running  through  Southampton,  into  two  parishes,  and  St.  Luke's 
established.  There  are  no  Church  records  of  this  parish  to  which 
I  can  resort  for  information  about  it.  At  the  time  of  Tarleton's 
invasion  of  Virginia,  he  sent  a  detachment  to  Macclesfield,  the 
residence  of  Colonel  Josiah  Parker,  of  Revolutionary  memory,  in 
hopes  to  take  him  and  destroy  his  papers,  &c.  In  the  former  he 
failed,  but  in  the  latter  succeeded.  Among  the  effects  destroyed 
were  the  vestry-book  and  some  Church-papers,  which  he,  as  a  warm 
friend  of  the  Church,  had  in  keeping.  It  appears,  however,  that, 
notwithstanding  the  vigilance  of  Arnold's  men,  some  papers  relating 
to  the  Church  were  preserved  and  remained  in  possession  of  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  Cowper,  until  the  war  of  1812,  when  a  militia  force 
which  was  stationed  near  Macclesfield,  being  in  want  of  cartridge- 
paper,  obtained  from  the  servants  what  they  supposed  was  waste 
paper ;  and  thus  what  remained  of  Church  records  was  used  in  the 
service  of  the  country.  Such  being  the  case,  I  must  rely  on  tradi- 


I 

300  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

tion  for  any  statements  not  provable  by  later  records.  There 
have  been  some  very  old  persons  in  the  county,  who  have  transmitted 
to  the  present  generation  some  testimonies  which  have  probable 
accuracy  in  them.  There  is  a  tradition  that  the  old  and  venerable 
brick  church  a  few  miles  from  Smithfield  was  built  in  1632  and 
was  the  second  church  erected  in  the  Colony.  Dr.  Hawks  men- 
tioned this  as  probable.  It  is  quite  likely  that  the  date  of  its  erection 
was  as  early  as  1632,  but  that  it  was  the  second  church  in  the 
Colony  is  disproved  by  all  the  early  writers,  who  tell  us  of  one  at 
Henrico  in  1611.  Others,  no  doubt,  though  of  a  rude  character, 
were  raised  in  earlier  settlements  long  before  this  time,  and  perhaps 
some  cheap  and  plain  one  at  Warrosquoyacke  itself.  The  building 
of  which  we  are  speaking  is  a  remarkable  one.  All  of  its  materials 
must  have  been  of  the  best  kind,  and  its  workmanship  superior, — 
whether  those  materials  were  from  England  and  the  workmanship 
as  to  the  interior  done  in  England,  as  tradition  says,  or  not.  Its 
present  condition  fully  proves  this.  Its  thick  walls  and  high  tower, 
like  that  of  some  English  castle,  are  still  firm,  and  promise  so  to 
be  for  a  long  time  to  come.  The  windows,  doors,  and  all  the  inte- 
rior, are  gone.  It  is  said  that  the  eastern  window — twenty-five 
feet  high — was  of  stained  glass.  This  venerable  building  stands 
not  far  from  the  main  road  leading  from  Smithfield  to  Suffolk,  in 
an  open  tract  of  woodland.  The  trees  for  some  distance  around 
it  are  large  and  tall  and  the  foliage  dense,  so  that  but  little  of  the 
light  of  the  sun  is  thrown  upon  it.  The  pillars  which  strengthen 
the  walls,  and  which  are  wide  at  the  base,  tapering  toward  the 
eaves  of  the  house  by  stair-steps,  have  somewhat  mouldered,  so  as 
to  allow  various  shrubs  and  small  trees  to  root  themselves  therein. 
Some  few,  indeed,  though  quite  small,  have  issued  from  between 
the  bricks  beneath  the  eaves,  on  other  parts  of  the  walls.  This, 
arising  from  the  dense  shade  around,  gives  the  building  and  the 
picture  of  it  (which  I  have)  a  deeply-interesting  appearance.* 
Some  twenty  or  thirty  years  ago  a  new  roof  was  put  upon  it 
and  worship  occasionally  held  there,  in  which  I  have  partaken  on 

*  Some  years  since,  in  the  month  of  November,  toward  the  close  of  day,  I  passed 
by  this  church  in  company  with  an  active  young  man ;  and,  as  usual^ turning  aside 
to  survey  it,  I  saw  among  the  shrubs  a  delicate  young  cedar,  about  a  foot  long, 
issuing  out  of  the  wall  just  under  the  cornicing  of  the  roof.  On  expressing  a  wish 
that  I  had  it,  without  dreaming  that  it  could  be  gotten,  my  companion  immediately 
began  to  clamber  up  the  pillar  nearest  to  it,  and,  ascending  twelve  feet,  got  in  a 
position  which  enabled  him  to  remove  several  of  the  loosened  bricks  and  get  the 
young  plant,  with  good  roots,  from  its  nest.  It  is  now  a  flourishing  tree,  eight  feet 
high,  near  my  study-window. 


ii  in 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  301 

several  occasions;  but,  the  neighbourhood  being  deserted  of 
Episcopal  families  and  a  new  church  built  in  Smithfield,  it  is  now, 
like  the  tomb  or  body  of  Sir  John  Moore,  "  left  alone  in  its  glory." 

There  were  two  other  old  churches  in  this  county.  The  Bay 
Church  was  a  brick  building  about  five  miles  northwest  of  Smith- 
field,  near  a  bend  in  James  River  called  Burwell's  Bay,  (some  of 
that  name  having  settled  there  at  an  early  period,)  originally 
Warrosquoyacke  Bay.  It  was  erected  about  the  middle  of  the  last 
century  on  the  lands  of  Colonel  Burwell,  who  was  a  Colonial  clerk 
of  the  county.  About  the  year  1810,  the  estate  came  into  other 
hands;  the  church  was  pulled  down  and  a  kitchen  built  of  the 
bricks ;  the  sides  and  backs  of  the  pews  were  used  to  make  stalls  for 
a  stable  and  divisions  in  a  barn,  which  was  last  struck  with  light- 
ning and  burned  down.  The  bell  of  the  church  was  exchanged  in 
Richmond  for  a  brandy-still.  The  other  church,  called  the  Isle  of 
Wight  Chapel,  was  a  framed  wooden  building  about  fifteen  miles 
southwest  of  Smithfield,  and  was  erected  about  the  year  1750.  It 
was  destroyed  by  fire  some  thirty  or  forty  years  since.  The  new 
church  at  Smithfield  was  built  in  1832,  and  has  been  under  the 
charge  of  the  Rev.  C.  J.  Hedges,  Thomas  Smith,  Jonathan  Smith, 
John  Downing,  John  C.  McCabe,  H.  T.  Wilcoxon,  and  Chauncey 
Colton. 

Of  the  ministers  in  the  county  of  Isle  of  Wight,  previous  to  the 
year  1724,  we  have  not  yet  been  able  to  learn  any  thing  except 
what  has  been  already  stated, — that,  in  the  year  1642,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Falkner  was  rector  of  the  whole  county.  It  was  then  divided  into 
two  parishes.  In  the  year  1724  the  same  division  continued.  The 
Rev.  Alexander  Forbes  was  minister  of  the  upper  parish,  called 
Warwicksqueake,  and  Thomas  Bayley  of  the  lower  or  Newport 
parish.  I  have  before  me  a  letter  from  eacb  of  them,  in  that  year, 
to  the  Bishop  of  London,  giving  an  account  of  their  parishes.  Mr. 
Forbes  enlarges  in  a  second  letter  on  all  the  points  contained  in 
his  first,  and  gives  a  most  particular,  faithful,  and  painful  his- 
tory of  all  the  difficulties  and  trials  of  his  ministry,  and  of  the 
unhappy  condition  of  things  in  his  parish  and  in  the  Colony.  His 
parish  is  eleven  miles  wide  along  the  river,  and  more  than  sixty 
miles  long,  extending  to  the  North  Carolina  line.  He  has  three 
churches,  one  of  which  was  doubtless  the  old  one  near  Smithfield. 
He  speaks  of  the  impossibility  of  any  successful  efforts  at  doing 
much  good  either  by  preaching  or  catechizing,  whether  in  churches 
or  private  houses, — both  of  which  he  had  diligently  tried, — by  reason 
of  the  extent  of  his  parish  and  the  scattered  position  of  the  families 


I 

302  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

of  his  charge.  He  complains  much  of  the  Quakers,  who  annoyed 
him  not  a  little ;  somewhat  of  the  Anabaptists,  who  were  then  find- 
ing their  way  into  Virginia ;  but  most  of  all  of  some  of  our  own 
clergy,  whose  evil  lives  hindered  the  religion  of  the  laity.  His 
nearest  neighbour,  as  we  shall  see,  was  an  instance  of  this.  He 
speaks  of  the  Indian  settlement  on  the  Nottoway  River, — Christina, 
— where  Mr.  Griffin's  school  was,  and  which  was  in  his  parish,  though 
afterward  in  Southampton, — which  was  cut  off  from  the  Isle  of 
Wight, — and  deplores  the  ill  example  of  the  Colonists  and  its  influ- 
ence on  the  natives.  There  were  no  schools  in  his  parish.  His 
number  of  communicants  not  more  than  thirty  or  forty.  His  glebe 
was  indifferent  and  had  no  house  on  it.  The  tobacco  raised  there, 
being  of  bad  quality,  sold  at  a  very  reduced  price,  so  that  his  salary 
was  small.  From  the  testimony  of  Commissary  Blair  and  others,  he 
was,  however,  not  a  mere  complainant,  but  a  very  faithful  and  labo- 
rious man,  who  continued  at  his  post  for  along  time, — perhaps  until 
his  death. 

As  to  his  neighbour, — the  Rev.  Mr.  Bayley,  in  the  lower  parish, 
— he  was,  from  all  the  accounts  we  have  of  him,  the  very  reverse. 
Commissary  Blair  and  Governor  Spottswood  speak  of  him,  in  their 
letters  to  the  Bishop  of  London  and  others,  as  a  most  notoriously 
wicked  man.  Mr.  Blair  says  that  he  has  tried  sharp  reproof 
without  effect,  and  thinks  that  he  shall  be  obliged  to  adopt  some- 
thing more  severe.  Whether  he  ever  did  does  not  appear.  He 
acknowledges  that  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  discipline  were  so 
great,  and  ministers  so  scarce,  that  he  was  obliged  to  pass  by  many 
offences. 

From  his  answers  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  it  appears  that  Mr. 
Bayley  had  been  ten  years  in  the  States, — during  a  part  of  which  he 
was  minister  of  St.  John's  Church,  Baltimore, — that  there  were  four 
hundred  families  in  his  parish,  and  about  forty  communicants.  He 
also  had  the  small  parish  of  Chuckatuck,  in  Nansemond,  under  his 
care,  at  which  he  preached  during  the  week.  In  answer  to  the  ques- 
tion whether  there  were  any  infidels  in  his  parish,  he  says,  uYes, 
both  bond  and  free;"  and  the  method  of  their  conversion  was  "by 
baptism  and  instruction."  He  speaks  also  of  there  being  some 
unendowed  schools  in  his  parish,  but  in  such  way  that  we  conclude 
they  are  none  other  than  private  schools. 

After  these  we  learn,  by  oral  tradition,  that  there  was  a  Mr. 
Pedier,  who  probably  was  minister  of  the  parish  in  which  the  old 
church  was  situated,  as  he  was  buried  in  the  aisle  of  it.  Then  the 
Rev.  J.  H.  Burgess,  afterward  of  Southampton,  was  minister  of 


FAMILIES  OF  VIRGINIA.  303 

the  parish  for  the  years  1773,  1774,  1775,  and  1776 ;  how  much 
longer  we  know  not.  He  went  from  thence  to  Northampton. 
The  last  of  whom  we  hear  was  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hubard,  who  was 
ordained  by  the  Bishop  of  London  in  1766.  When  he  entered  on 
his  charge  we  know  not,  as  he  was  minister  in  Warwick  in  the 
year  1776.  He  died  in  the  parsonage  on  the  glebe  of  Newport 
parish,  after  the  year  1802.  He  manifested  his  attachment  to  the 
Church  by  preaching  to  the  last,  though  there  were  only  two  or 
three  persons  present. 

No  vestry-book  furnishing  us  with  a  list  of  the  vestrymen,  we 
insert  the  names  of  some  of  the  families  in  this  parish  : — Bridger, 
Smith,  Pierce,  Parker,  Young,  Gary,  Pedier,  Wills,  Godwin,  Bur- 
well,  Cocke,  Holliday,  Todd,  Purdy,  Tucker,  Butler,  &c.  The 
tombstone  of  an  ancestor  of  the  Bridgers  still  stands  on  a  farm  a 
few  miles  from  the  Old  Brick  Church,  with  an  inscription  which 
declares  him  to  have  been  a  Councillor  of  State  for  Virginia 
under  Charles  II.,  and  that  he  died  in  1682. 

Since  writing  the  foregoing,  I  have  received  further  information 
concerning  this  parish  from  a  friend,  who  has  come  into  possession 
of  the  fragments  of  an  old  vestry-book,  which  partially  cover 
the  period  lying  between  1724  and  1771.  As  we  have  stated 
above,  the  worthy  Alexander  Forbes  was  the  minister  in  1724, 
as  appears  by  his  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  London  in  that  year; 
but,  according  to  the  vestry-record,  in  two  years  after  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Barlow  is  the  minister  officiating  occasionally,  being  the 
minister  of  some  neighbouring  parish.  In  the  year  1727,  we  find 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Bayley — the  minister  of  the  lower  parish,  of  whom 
we  spoke  as  being  so  unworthy  a  man — applying  for  this  parish. 
The  vestry  dispose  of  his  application  by  electing  him  on  the  con- 
dition that  "  he  make  it  appear  that  he  is  not  in  any  ways  de- 
barred or  silenced  by  any  order  of  Government."  It  appears, 
from  other  documents  in  my  possession,  that  he  had  been  thus 
"  debarred  and  silenced."  He  was  a  notorious  character,  and, 
either  before  or  after  this,  was  in  North  Carolina  and  other  parts 
of  Virginia,  seeking  employment. 

In  the  year  1729,  the  Rev.  John  Gammill  was  chosen  minister, 
and  continued  so  until  his  death  in  1744.  The  following  letter 
from  Governor  Gooch  to  the  vestry  speaks  well  of  him : — 

"  GENTLEMEN  : — 

"  It  is  a  great  satisfaction  to  me  that  I  can  now  recommend  to  your 
parish,  which  has  been  so  long  without  a  minister  so  good  a  man  as  the 


9 
304  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

bearer  hereof,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gammill,  whose  good  life  and  conversation 
will  be  very  agreeable  to  you,  as  it  is  to,  gentlemen, 

"  Your  affectionate  friend  and  humble  servant, 

"WILLIAM  GOOOH. 

'•WILLIAMS BURG,  March  8,  1729-30." 

Commissary  Blair  also  recommends  him  highly. 

After  Mr.  Gammill's  ministry  the  Rev.  Mr.  Camm  occasionally 
officiated  in  this  parish.  Then  the  Rev.  Mr.  McKensie  preached 
nine  sermons.  In  the  year  1746,  we  find  the  Rev.  John  Reid 
present  with  the  vestry ;  and  he  seems  to  have  been  the  minister 
until  1755,  when  the  record  becomes  defective.  In  1766,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Milner  is  the  minister,  and  resigns  in  1770.  Tradition 
says,  as  we  have  stated,  that  a  Rev.  Mr.  Pedier  was  once  minister, 
and  was  buried  in  Old  Smithfield  Church.  It  is  probable  he  suc- 
ceeded Mr.  Milner.  Then  came  Mr.  Burgess  and  Hubard,  as 
before  stated.  The  old  vestry-book  confirms  what  has  been  stated 
as  to  the  position  of  the  three  churches  of  this  parish. 

The  following  is  the  list  of  vestrymen  during  the  period  of  which 
it  is  a  record : — 

"  Laurence  Baker,  Samuel  Davis,  Matthew  Jones,  Thomas  Walton, 
William  Kinchin,  William  Crumples,  William  Bridger,  James  Day, 
George  Reddick,  Matthew  Wills,  Reuben  Proctor,  Nathaniel  Ridley, 
Thomas  Woodly,  John  Goodrich,  George  Williamson,  James  Ingles,  John 
Porson,  John  Davis,  John  Simmons,  William  Wilkinson,  Joseph  Godwin, 
Henry  Lightfoot,  James  Bridger,  John  Monro,  Thomas  Parker,  Hardy 
Council,  Henry  Pitt,  Arthur  Smith,  Richard  Wilkinson,  Henry  Apple- 
whaite,  Thomas  Day,  John  Laurence,  Hugh  Giles,  Thomas  and  John 
Applewhaite,  Thomas  Tynes,  John  Eley,  Thomas  Smith,  Jordan  Thomas, 
John  Darden,  Dolphin  Drew,  John  Wills,  William  Hodsden,  William 
Salter,  Robert  Barry,  Charles  Tilghman,  Robert  Burwell,  Miles  Wills, 
Edmund  Godwin." 

In  the  foregoing  list,  my  friend  remarks,  are  forty  different 
surnames,  almost  all  of  which  are  now  to  be  found  in  Isle  of  Wight 
and  Southampton  counties ;  that  is,  within  the  original  bounds  of  old 
Warwicksqueake  shire  and  parish.  It  appears  from  the  vestry- 
book  that,  in  the  year  1737, — that  is,  one  hundred  and  five  years 
after  it  was  first  built, — the  Old  Smithfield  Church  had  a  new 
covering  of  shingles  put  upon  it.  This  was  doubtless  the  first 
repair  of  the  kind  since  its  erection,  for  it  was  no  uncommon  thing 
for  a  well-built  roof  to  last  thus  long.  Old  Yeocomico  Church,  in 
Westmoreland,  has  one  on  it  at  this  time  of  greater  age. 

I  have  alluded  to  the  families  of  Bridger  and  Parker,  and  their 
mansion  at  Macclesfield, — a  few  miles  from  Old  Smithfield  Church, 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  305 

— in  the  first  part  of  this  article,  and  to  a  tombstone  thereat ;  and 
a  friend  has  furnished  me  with  the  following  inscription,  with  the 
explanatory  remarks : — 

"Inscription  on  the  tomb  of  the  HonUe  Joseph  Bridger,  Paymaster-  General 
to  the  British  troops  in  America  during  Bacon' s  Rebellion,  in  the  reign 
of  Charles  the  Second  of  England. 

"  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  the  Honble  Joseph  Bridger,  Councillor  of 
State  to  Charles  the  2d.  He  dyed  Aprill  15,  Anno  Domini  1688,  aged 
58  years,  mournfully  leaving  his  wife,  three  sons,  and  four  daughters/' 

Some  eulogistic  verses  are  added,  from  which  we  select  the  fol- 
lowing : — 

"Can  nature  silent  mourn,  and  can  dumb  stone 
Make  his  true  worth  to  future  ages  known  ? 
Here  lies  the  late  great  minister  of  state, 
That  royall  virtues  had,  and  royall  fate." 

Perhaps  it  was  as  great  an  honour  to  him  to  be  the  son  of  the 
man  who  built  Old  Smithfield  Church  as  to  have  been  one  of  the 
Councillors  of  the  corrupt  Charles  II.,  and  to  have  acted  with 
Sir  William  Berkeley  against  him  who  is  called  the  rebel  Bacon. 
That  he  was  the  son  of  the  man  who  contracted  for  the  church  is 
stated  in  the  following  words  accompaning  the  inscription : — 

"  General  Bridger  was  the  son  and  heir  of  the  Joseph  Bridger  who 
superintended  the  building  of  St.  Luke's,  (the  Brick  Church,)  in  New- 
port parish,  Isle  of  Wight  county." 

My  friend  adds  these  words : — 

11  The  above  is  taken  from  a  copy  made  by  the  late  Mrs.  Anne  P.  P. 
Cowper,  of  Macclesfield,  from  the  tombstone,  which  is  erected  on  a 
farm  about  three  miles  below  the  Old  Brick  Church,  and  is  still  in  a 
perfect  state.  This  farm  was  a  part  of  an  immense  landed  estate  which 
descended  to  Mrs.  Cowper  from  her  mother,  who  was  a  widow  Bridger, 
and  married  Colonel  Josiah  Parker,  of  Revolutionary  celebrity." 

I  have  also  referred  to  a  small  parish,  called  Chuckatuck,  in 
Nansemond  county,  of  which  I  could  say  nothing  for  want  of  any 
documents.  A  friend  has  sent  me  the  copy  of  a  portion  of  an  old 
vestry-book  of  this  parish,  which  contains  the  proceedings  of  the 
vestry  from  December  of  the  year  1702  to  1709.  I  will  first 
give  the  names  of  the  gentlemen  composing  the  vestry  during  that 
period : — 

"Captain  Edmund  Godwin,  Major  Thomas  Swann,  Captain  L.  Havield, 
Mr.  James  Davis,  Mr.  Oliver  Slaughter,  Mr.  James  Cewling,  Mr.  Thomas 

20 


$ 

306  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

Drury,  Colonel  Thomas  (Godwin,  Captain  John  Pitt,  Mr.  Thomas  Corbell, 
Colonel  George  Norsworthy,  Captain  Charles  Drury,  Mr.  John  Brasseur, 
Major  Thomas  Jordan,  Captain  B.  Kearne,  Mr.  John  Lear,  Peter  Best, 
Thomas  Cutchins,  John  Isles." 

The  vestry  seems  to  have  been  an  energetic  and  decided  one. 
In  April,  1703,  is  their  first  action  : — 

"  The  vestry,  being  willing  to  embrace  the  first  opportunity  for  the 
service  of  God,  have  therefore  entertained  and  agreed  with  Mr.  William 
Rudd,  minister,  to  preach  a  sermon  every  intervening  Thursday  until  the 
1st  of  October  next,  at  the  rate  of  three  hundred  and  eight  pounds  of 
tobacco  per  sermon,  and  also  to  pay  twelve  shillings  for  his  ferrying  over 
the  river :  which  Mr.  William  Rudd  accepts,  and  promises,  with  God's 
assistance,  to  perform  his  duty.  During  the  summer  they  invite  him  to 
become  their  minister  and  preach  every  other  Sunday,  for  eight  thousand 
pounds  of  tobacco." 

Mr.  Rudd  was  then  the  minister  of  Norfolk,  in  Elizabeth  River 
parish,  and  it  was  customary  to  ask  the  consent  of  the  Governor 
to  a  separation ;  wherefore  the  vestry  addressed  a  letter  to  Governor 
Nicholson.  Mr.  Rudd  became  their  minister,  and  remained  such 
for  some  years.  After  this  they  had  the  services  of  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Hassell,  but  how  long  is  not  known.  It  was  during  the 
infancy  of  this  vestry  that  Governor  Nicholson  was  endeavouring 
to  establish  his  authority  over  the  vestries  in  relation  to  induction 
of  ministers  and  the  supply  of  vacancies.  The  opinion  of  Sir 
Edward  Northy,  the  King's  Attorney,  was  sent  to  all  the  vestries 
and  ordered  to  be  recorded  on  the  vestry-books.  The  vestry  of 
the  little  Chuckatuck  parish  obeyed  the  Governor's  order  and 
placed  the  document  on  record,  but  added  this  spirited  resolution 
to  it : — 

"But  as  to  presenting  our  present  or  any  other  minister  for  induc- 
tion, are  not  of  opinion,  [here  is  something  not  very  intelligible  by  itself, 
but  rendered  perfectly  so  by  what  follows,]  but  are  willing  to  entertain 
our  present  minister  upon  the  usual  terms,  as  formerly  hath  been  used  in 
this  Colony." 

I  do  not  know  that  there  was  ever  more  than  one  church  in  this 
parish.  That  is  still  standing,  and  has  been  occasionally  supplied 
by.  ministers  from  Suifolk  and  Smithfield.  I  have  often  been  in 
it,  and  enjoyed  the  services  held  therein. 

On  the  few  pages  of  this  vestry-book  which  are  before  me,  I 
find  all  the  oaths  which  at  that  time  were  required  of  vestrymen 
and  churchwardens.  As  they  varied  according  to  times  and  cir- 
cumstances, and  some  are  to  be  seen  in  one  vestry-book  and  some 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  307 

in  another,  I  will  present  them  all  to  the  reader  as  they  here 
appear : — 

"The  oaths  appointed  to  be  taken,  as  by  an  Act  of  Parliament,  in  the 
reign  of  William  the  Third,  instead  of  allegiance  and  supremacy. 

"I,  A.  B.,  do  sincerely  promise  and  swear,  that  I  will  be  true  and  faith- 
ful, and  bar  [bear]  true  allegiance  to  his  Majesty  King  George  the  Third. 
So  help  me  God. 

"  I,  A.  B.,  do  from  my  heart  abhor,  detest,  and  abjure,  as  impious  and 
hereticall,  that  damnable  doctrine  and  position,  that  Princes  excommuni- 
cated or  deprived  by  the  Pope,  or  any  authority  of  the  See  of  Rome,  may 
be  deposed  or  murthered  by  any  of  their  subjects  whatsoever;  and  I  do 
declare,  that  no  foreign  Prince,  Person  or  Prelate,  State  or  Potentate, 
hath,  or  ought  to  have,  any  jurisdiction,  power,  superiority,  predominance, 
or  authority,  ecclesiasticall  or  spiritual,  within  this  Realm.  So  help  me 
God. 

"  I,  A.  B.,  do  sincerely  believe  that  there  is  not  any  transubstantiation 
in  the  Sacraments  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  or  in  the  elements  of  bread  and 
wine,  at  or  after  the  consecration  thereof  by  any  person  whatsoever." 

"The  oath  of  a  vestryman,  being  the  oath  of  obedience  canonical. 

"  I,  A.  B.,  do  swear,  that  I  approve  of  the  doctrine  and  discipline,  or 
government,  in  the  Church  of  England  as  concerning  all  things  necessary 
to  Salvation;  and  that  I  will  not  endeavour,  by  myself  or  any  other, 
directly  or  indirectly,  to  bring  in  any  Popish  Doctrine  contrary  to  that 
which  is  so  established;  nor  will  I  ever  give  my  consent  to  alter  the  go- 
vernment of  this  church  by  Archbishops,  Bishops,  Deans,  and  Archdeacons, 
&c.,  as  it  stands  now  established,  and  as  by  right  it  ought  to  stand,  nor  yet 
ever  to  subject  it  to  the  usurpations  and  superstitions  of  the  See  of  Rome. 
And  all  these  things  I  do  plainly  and  sincerely  acknowledge  and  swear, 
according  to  the  plain  and  common  sense  and  understanding  of  the  same 
words,  without  any  equivocation,  mental  evasion,  or  secret  reservation 
whatsoever;  and  this  I  do  heartily,  willingly,  and  truly,  upon  the  faith  of 
a  Christian.  So  help  me  God." 

'The  oath  of  a  churchwarden. 

"  You  shall  execute  the  office  of  churchwarden  in  the  parish  where  you 
are  chosen,  according  to  your  discretion  and  skill,  in  his  Majesties'  eccle- 
siastical laws  of  this  Realm  now  in  force.  So  help  me  God." 

PARISHES    IN   SOUTHAMPTON. 

Having  exhausted  our  little  stock  of  information  concerning  the 
Isle  of  Wight  parishes,  we  proceed  to  Southampton,  which  was  cut 
off  from  it  in  the  year  1748,  and  the  parish  called  Nottoway,  which 
was  in  a  few  years  divided  and  St.  Luke's  parish  established.  In 
the  year  1758  we  find  a  Rev.  Thomas  Burgess  minister  of  the  un- 
divided Nottoway  parish ;  and  in  the  year  1773,  the  Rev.  William 
Agur  minister  of  Nottoway  parish,  and  the  Rev.  George  Gurley 
of  St.  Luke's,  and  the  same  in  1774.  But  in  the  year  1776,  the 


308  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

Rev.  William  Andrews  takes  the  place  of  Mr.  Agur  in  Nottoway 
parish.  In  the  year  1785,  Mr.  George  Gurley  appears  in  the  Con- 
vention at  Richmond  as  rector  of  St.  Luke's  still,  and  in  1786  the 
Rev.  Benjamin  Blunt  has  taken  his  place.  This  is  the  last  repre- 
sentation from  Southampton  until  after  the  revival  of  the  Church 
in  Virginia.  I  have,  however,  some  private  information  concerning 
a  portion  of  its  intermediate  history.  During  the  war  the  Rev. 
John  Henry  Burgess,  who  had  been  before  ministering  in  Newport 
parish,  Isle  of  Wight,  moved  into  Southampton,  and  there  both 
preached  the  Gospel  and  instructed  the  youth.  He  probably 
preached  at  all  the  churches  in  the  two  parishes,  and  supported 
himself  by  teaching,  as  the  salaries  of  the  ministers  were  very 
badly  paid  during  the  war,  if  at  all,  and  many  of  them  ceased  to 
preach.  There  were  not  less  than  seven  churches  in  the  two 
parishes,  including  one  built  under  his  auspices.  The  names  of  five 
of  them  were  Lecock,  Oberry's,  Simmons's,  Jones's,  and  Millfield. 
The  latter,  Millfield,  was  near  his  residence,  and  is  now  in  posses- 
sion of  the  Baptists.  All  the  rest  have  passed  away.  Mr.  Bur- 
gess's school  was  held  in  high  esteem.  Among  those  which  were 
educated  in  it  we  may  mention  one  of  the  late  Presidents,  William 
Henry  Harrison.  To  the  number  of  patriotic  ministers  we  may 
surely  add  the  Rev.  Mr.  Burgess ;  for  so  zealously  did  he  advocate 
the  cause  of  America,  both  privately  and  publicly,  that  the  British 
got  possession  of  him  during  the  war,  and  kept  him  a  prisoner 
until  the  close  of  it.  So  entire  was  the  prostration  of  the  Episco- 
pal Church  in  this  county,  that  it  was  some  time  after  our  efforts 
at  resuscitation  commenced  before  attention  was  turned  toward  it. 
The  Revs.  Edmund  Withers  and  Edward  B.  McGuire  gave  a  portion 
of  their  time  and  labours  to  it  a  few  years  since,  and  not  without 
effect.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Gibson,  of  Petersburg,  and  Robert,  of 
Greensville,  have  added  their  occasional  services  since  then,  and  we 
hope  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  we  shall  have  a  regular 
ministry  and  temples  of  our  own. 

PARISHES   IN   SURREY   COUNTY. 

This  county  originally  contained  all  that  is  now  Surrey  and 
Sussex.  There  were  two  parishes  in  it  in  1738,  called  Lawn's 
Creek  and  Southwark,  running  the  whole  length  of  the  county 
toward  the  Carolina  line,  being  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles. 
At  that  time  each  of  them  were  curtailed ;  and,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  Isle  of  Wight  parishes,  Black  River  divided  them.  Those 
parts  of  the  parishes  which  lie  south  of  Blackwater  River  formed 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  309 

a  parish  by  the  name  of  Albemarle,  in  what  is  now  Sussex  county, 
and  the  parts  north  of  Black  River  formed  another  parish,  retain- 
ing the  name  of  Southwark, — that  of  Lawn's  Creek  being  hence- 
forth dropped.  Although  there  were  many  ministers  in  the  parishes 
of  Surrey  before  the  year  1724,  and  between  that  and  1754  and 
1758,  and  though  I  have  their  names  on  different  documents  in 
possession,  I  am  not  able  to  identify  or  locate  them,  because  these 
documents  do  not  appropriate  them  to  their  parishes.  I  am  able  to 
say  who  were  the  ministers  in  1724,  because  their  answers  to  the 
Bishop  of  London  show  it.  I  can  say  who  were  the  ministers  in 
1754  and  1758,  because  I  have  a  list  both  of  the  ministers  and 
parishes  of  those  years.  Had  I  the  old  vestry-books,  they  would 
supply  the  deficiency ;  but  I  have  none  of  either  of  these  parishes ; 
and  yet  they  may  be  in  existence,  though  in  some  tattered  form. 

I  givfe,  first,  some  of  the  answers  of  the  Rev.  John  Worden, 
who  says, — 

"I  arrived  in  Virginia  in  1712,  when  Governor  Spottswood  sent  me  for 
six  months  to  Jamestown.  Thence  I  went  to  the  parishes  of  Weynoake 
and  Martins  Brandon,  both  of  which  parishes  were  hardly  sufficient  to 
support  a  minister ;  therefore  I  removed  to  this  parish,  where  I  have  been 
since  January  30th,  1717."  His  parish,  he  says,  "  is  ten  miles  wide 
along  the  river,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  long,  with  seven  hundred 
tithables  in  it.  There  are  some  Indians,  bond  and  free,  and  negroes,  bond 
and  free.  Some  masters  will  have  their  negroes  baptized ;  and  some  will 
not,  because  they  will  not  be  sureties  for  them.  I  cannot  persuade  parents 
and  masters  to  send  their  children  and  servants  to  be  catechized.  1  some- 
times get  eight  shillings  and  fourpence  for  my  tobacco,  per  hundred,  and 
sometimes  not  so  much ;  and  if  I  send  it  to  Europe,  perhaps  it  brings  me 
in  debt,  as  of  late  years  it  hath  happened.  The  vestry  will  not  keep  my 

flebe-house  in  order;   but  if  I  choose  to  do  it  myself,  1  may  and  welcome, 
have  a  church  and  chapel  thirty  miles  apart, — twelve  communicants  at 
the  former,  and  thirty  or  forty  at  the  latter." 

The  following  are  the  answers  of  the  Rev.  John  Cargill,  minister 
of  Southwark  parish  : — 

"  I  have  been  here  sixteen  years.  My  parish  is  twenty  miles  in  width, 
and  one  hundred  inhabited  in  length,  being  a  frontier-parish.  It  has 
three  hundred  and  ninety-four  families.  The  school  of  Mr.  Griffin,  called 
Christina,  for  Indians,  is  on  the  borders  of  my  parish.  There  is  one 
church  and  two  chapels,  and  seventy  or  eighty  communicants.  My  to- 
bacco now  sells  at  five  shillings  per  hundred ;  my  salary  from  thirty  to 
forty  pounds.  My  glebe-house  is  in  a  very  bad  condition,  and  the  parish 
will  not  repair  it,  so  I  must  look  out  for  a  house  elsewhere.  No  school, 
no  library,  in  the  parish." 

Such  is  the  sad  account  in  1724  of  the  two  parishes  in  Surrey 
county. 


* 

310  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

In  the  year  1758,  after  the  arrangement  by  which  all  on  the  north 
side  of  Blackwater  is  united  in  Southwark  parish,  we  find  the  Rev. 
Peter  Davis  its  minister ;  in  the  years  1774  and  1776,  the  Rev. 
Benjamin  Blagrove.  In  the  year  1785,  the  Rev.  John  Henry 
Burgess,  of  whom  we  recently  spoke  as  minister  in  Southampton, 
appears  in  the  Convention  as  minister  of  Southwark ;  and,  in  the 
years  1790  and  1792,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Butler.  After  this  we  hear 
of  it  no  more.  Its  last  minister  was  a  man  of  pleasure,  so  devoted 
to  the  turf  that  he  was  made  President  of  the  Jockey  Club  of 
Surrey  and  Charles  City,  as  I  was  informed  by  the  clerk  of  the 
same.  Nothing  else  was  to  be  expected  but  that  the  Church  should 
perish  in  such  hands. 

Since  the  revival  of  our  Church  in  Virginia,  efforts  have  been 
made  in  behalf  of  the  parishes  in  Surrey,  and  not  without  some 
effect.  Between  twenty-five  and  thirty  years  ago  the  Rev.  John 
Cole,  encouraged  by  the  zeal  of  good  Mrs.  Falcon  and  others  of 
Southwark  parish,  preached  for  one  year  at  Old  Surrey  and  Cabin 
Point  Churches,  reviving  not  a  little  the  hopes  of  our  few  remaining 
friends.  At  a  later  period  the  Rev.  Edmund  Christian  spent  some 
time  in  the  same ;  and  for  the  last  few  years  the  Rev.  John 
McCabe,  recently  of  Hampton,  has  devoted  one  Sunday  in  four  to 
Old  Surrey  Church.  Under  his  ministry  the  congregation  increased, 
and  a  new  church  has  been  recently  erected  near  the  old  one.* 
I  know  of  no  other  churches  in  Surrey  but  those  of  Old  Surrey  and 
Cabin  Point,  unless  there  be  one  standing  about  eight  or  ten  miles 
from  the  court-house.  I  made  one  visit  to  it  about  twenty  years 
ago.  In  company  with  a  zealous  female  member  of  the  Church, 
some  notice  having  been  previously  given,  I  approached  the  old 
and  desolate-looking  place.  No  horses  or  carriages  were  around 
it ;  but  on  the  sill  of  an  open  door  was  sitting  an  old  negro  man, 
who  I  was  told  had  in  former  times  been  the  sexton.  We  three 
were  the  congregation.  My  visit  has  not  been  repeated. 

To  the  foregoing  I  add  the  following  communication  from  my 
esteemed  friend,  William  Harrison,  of  Brandon : — 

<(  In  the  will  of  Benjamin  Harrison,  of  Surrey,  who  was  buried  at  the 
chapel  near  Cabin  Point,  and  who,  according  to  the  epitaph  on  his  tomb- 
stone, was  born  in  Southwark  parish  in  1645,  and  which  will  was  ad- 
mitted to  probate  in  1712,  I  find  the  following  passage  : — 'Item,  I  give 
twenty  pounds  sterling  to  buy  ornaments  for  the  chapel,  and  that  my  exe- 

*  The  old  one  was  built  in  the  year  1754 ;  the  age  of  the  one  at  Cabin  Point 
unknown. 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  311 

cutor  take  care  to  provide  them,  so  soon  as  may  be,  after  the  new  chapel  is 
built;  and  my  will  is  that  five  acres  of  my  land  be  laid  out,  where  the  old 
chapel  now  stands,  and  that  it  be  held  for  that  use  forever/  '' 

The  plate  of  this  church,  I  have  reason  to  believe,  was  sold  by 
a  person  having  charge  of  it,  and  the  proceeds  applied  to  private 
use.  The  Harrisons,  Shorts,  Aliens,  Cockes,  and  Peters,  in  olden 
time,  were  leading  families  around  this  church.* 


*  To  this  I  add  the  following  from  the  History  of  Virginia,  by  Mr.  Charles  Camp- 
bell. The  following  is  the  epitaph: — "Here  lyeth  the  body  of  the  Honourable 
Benjamin  Harrison,  Esquire,  who  '  did  justice,  loved  mercy,  and  walked  humbly 
with  his  God,'  was  always  loyal  to  his  Prince,  and  a  great  benefactor  to  his  coun- 
try." He  had  three  sons,  of  whom  Benjamin,  the  eldest,  settled  at  Berkeley.  He 
married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Lewis  Burwell,  of  Gloucester,  and  was  an  eminent 
lawyer,  and  sometime  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Burgesses.  He  died  in  April,  1710, 
aged  thirty-seven,  leaving  an  only  son,  Benjamin,  and  an  only  daughter,  Elizabeth. 
A  monument  was  erected  at  the  public  expense  to  his  memory  in  the  old  Westover 
churchyard.  The  son  Benjamin  married  a  daughter  of  Robert  Carter,  of  Coroto- 
man,  (called  King  Carter,)  in  Lancaster  county.  Himself  and  two  daughters  of 
this  union  were  killed  by  the  same  flash  of  lightning  at  Berkeley.  Another  daughter 
married  Mr.  Randolph,  of  Wilton.  The  sons  were  Benjamin,  the  signer  of  the  De- 
claration of  Independence,  Charles,  a  general  in  the  Revolution,  Nathaniel,  Henry, 
Colin,  and  Carter  H.  From  the  last-mentioned  descended  the  Harrisons  of  Cum- 
berland. Benjamin  Harrison,  Jr.,  the  signer  of  the  Declaration,  and  otherwise 
celebrated,  married  a  Miss  Bassett.  Their  children  were  Benjamin,  father  of  the 
late  Benjamin  Harrison,  of  Berkeley,  Carter  B.,  sometime  member  of  Congress,  and 
William  Henry,  President  of  the  United  States ;  one  daughter  who  married  a  Mr. 
Randolph,  and  another  who  married  a  Mr.  Copeland.  The  second  son  of  Benjamin 
Harrison,  of  Surrey,  (the  first  of  the  family  in  Virginia, )  was  Nathaniel.  His  eldest 
son  was  also  named  Nathaniel,  and  his  only  son  again  was  Benjamin  Harrison,  of 
Brandon,  member  of  the  Council  of  Virginia  at  the  same  time  with  Benjamin 
Harrison,  of  Berkeley,  about  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution.  This  Benjamin 
Harrison,  of  Brandon,  who  married  a  daughter  of  the  last  Colonel  Byrd,  of  West- 
over,  was  father  of  the  present  William  Harrison,  of  Upper  Brandon,  and  of  the 
late  George  Harrison,  of  Lower  Brandon,  on  James  River,  besides  four  daughters. 
If  the  first  of  the  name  was  a  zealous  friend  of  the  Church  and  liberal  contributor, 
his  posterity  have  ever  continued  true  to  it ;  and  the  two  last  named,  with  their 
families,  have  done  much  to  its  partial  revival  within  the  last  thirty  years.  The 
ministers  have  ever  found  their  seats  to  be  hospitable  homes  when  in  that  part  of 
the  parish.  They  have  set  good  examples  in  encouraging  the  religious  teaching 
of  their  servants,  and,  in  order  to  promote  this,  have  built  a  chapel  between  them 
for  the  especial  benefit  of  the  same. 

For  a  full  description  of  Mr.  Benjamin  Harrison,  signer  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  Governor  of  Virginia,  and  holder  of  so  many  offices  during  and  after 
the  war,  I  refer  the  reader  to  Mr.  Griggsby's  book  on  the  Convention  of  1776. 
Of  the  family  of  Harrison  he  says,  "  Of  all  the  ancient  families  in  the  Colony,  that 
of  Harrison,  if  not  the  oldest,  is  one  of  the  oldest.  The  original  ancestor  some 
time  before  the  year  1645  had  come  over  to  the  Colony ;  but,  as  his  name  does  not 


I 

312  ,  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 


SUSSEX  COUNTY. 

A  few  words  suffice  for  Sussex  county,  and  Albemarle  parish  in 
Sussex  county.  The  parish,  as  has  been  stated  above,  was  divided 
from  Lawn's  Creek  and  Southwark  parishes  in  1738.  We  have  an 
old  tattered  register,  which  seems  to  have  begun  in  1738,  and  at 
the  bottom  of  each  page  is  the  name  of  William  Willie,  minister. 
It  continues  until  1776  with  the  same  name.  I  find  the  name  of 
William  Willie,  as  its  minister,  on  a  list  in  1754, — the  earliest  list  to 
be  found  on  record.  I  find  it  also  in  a  list  for  1776  in  an  old  Vir- 
ginia almanac.  In  both  instances  he  is  the  minister  of  Albemarle 
parish,  Sussex.  The  parish,  I  doubt  not,  began  and  ended  with 
him,  as  does  the  old  register,  for  we  hear  no  more  of  him  or  the 
parish  after  the  year  1776.  It  is  by  far  the  most  particular 
register  I  have  ever  met  with.  It  states  the  days  on  which  he 
preaches  at  each  of  his  four  churches, — St.  Mark's,  St.  Andrew's, 
St.  Paul's,  and  Nottoway,  and  the  number  of  persons  present,  and 
occasionally  other  circumstances.  It  states  the  births,  baptisms, 
deaths,  marriages,  sponsors,  names  of  masters,  of  bond  and  free, 
black  and  white.  So  methodical  and  pains-taking  a  man,  living  for 
thirty-eight  years  among  a  people  (judging  from  the  names  in  the 
register)  as  respectable  as  any  in  Virginia,  was,  it  is  to  be  hoped, 
a  worthy  minister  in  other  respects. 

In  speaking  of  the  church  in  Sussex  as  being  born  and  dying 
with  Mr.  Willie,  we  do  not  mean  to  say  that  there  were  no  churches 
and  ministers  in  that  region  before, — the  contrary  being  evident, — 
but  that  its  separate  parochial  existence  commenced  with  him  and 
died  with  him  so  far  as  regular  ministerial  services  were  concerned. 
Nor  do  we  mean  to  say  that  no  efforts  have  been  made  of  late  to 
resuscitate  it.  Some  years  since  a  new  church  was  erected  by  the 


appear  in  the  list  of  early  patentees  recorded  by  Burk,  it  is  probable  that  he  pur- 
chased land  already  patented,  or  may  have  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits.  The 
first  born  of  the  name  in  the  Colony  of  whom  we  have  any  distinct  record  was  Benja- 
min Harrison,  who  became  a  member  of  the  Council,  and  was  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Burgesses,  and  died  in  Southwark  parish,  in  the  county  of  Surrey,  in  the  year 
1712,  in  his  sixty-second  year."  Mr.  Griggsby  thinks  it  probable  that  his  father 
was  the  Herman  Harrison  who  came  over  in  what  is  called  the  "  second  supply"  in 
Smith's  History,  or  of  Master  John  Harrison,  who  was  Governor  in  1623,  and 
adds: — "  That  from  the  year  1645  to  this  date — a  period  of  more  than  two  centu- 
ries— the  name  has  been  distinguished  for  the  patriotism,  the  intelligence,  and  the 
moral  worth  of  those  who  have  borne  it." 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  313 

zeal  of  a  few  surviving  friends  and  members  of  the  church,  and 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Withers,  McGuire,  and  others,  have  performed 
services  in  it.  We  hope  the  ground  will  never  be  abandoned,  but 
that  in  this  and  the  neighbouring  county  of  Southampton  the 
twelve  churches  which  once  were,  but  now  are  not,  may  in  time 
have  their  places  supplied  by  the  blessing  of  God  on  the  labours 
of  faithful  men. 


J 

314  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 


ARTICLE  XXVI. 

Parishes  in  Charles  City,  Surrey,  and  Sussex. 

ALTHOUGH  Charles  City  was  one  of  the  eight  original  shires  or 
counties  into  which  the  Colony  was  partitioned  in  1634,  and  holds 
so  central  a  position  among  the  old  counties,  and  lies  on  one  of  our 
noblest  rivers,  yet  have  we  little  knowledge  of  either  its  civil  or 
ecclesiastical  history  during  the  first  century  of  our  Colonial  exist- 
ence. We  read  indeed  of  Westover  Hundred,  and  Weynoake 
Hundred,  and  Charles  City  Hundred,  as  early  settlements  on 
James  River,  within  its  bounds,  and  of  the  destruction  or  great 
injury  of  them  by  the  Indians  in  the  great  massacre  of  1622.  We 
read  of  a  school  being  established,  or  about  to  be  established,  at 
Charles  City  Hundred,  in  aid  of  the  proposed  College  at  Henrico, 
without  being  able  to  ascertain  the  location  of  it, — though  we  pre- 
sume it  was  somewhere  on  the  river.  The  dimensions  of  the  parish 
we  are  able  accurately  to  define.  As  was  the  case  with  some  other 
counties  on  this  and  other  rivers,  it  extended  some  distance  on 
both  sides  of  James  River.  Inconvenient  as  this  must  have  been 
to  the  inhabitants  in  many  respects,  yet  such  was  the  unwillingness 
to  divide  what  God  had  divided,  that  two  court-houses  were  used 
in  the  one  county,  one  on  each  side  of  the  river,  for  a  long  period 
of  time.  Still  more  inconvenient  must  this  have  been  to  the 
ministers  of  religion  and  the  people  of  their  charges,  whose 
parishes  were  thus  divided.  There  were  two  parishes  in  Charles 
City, — Westover  or  the  upper,  and  Weynoake  or  the  lower, — each 
divided  by  the  river  into  two  parts,  until  the  year  1720,  when  the 
two  parts  of  Westover  and  Weynoake  on  the  north  of  James  River, 
together  with  a  part  of  another  parish  called  Wallingford,  extend- 
ing to  the  Chickahominy,  were  all  united  into  one,  and  took  the 
name  of  Westover  parish ;  while  the  two  parts  of  Weynoake  and 
Westover  on  the  south  of  the  river  were  united  to  one  called 
Martins  Brandon  in  Prince  George,  which  latter  county  had  been 
taken  from  Charles  City,  being  that  part  of  it  lying  south  of  James 
River.  It  is  not  until  after  this  arrangement  that  we  have  any 
account  of  the  ministers  of  Charles  City  county  and  Westover 
parish  as  they  now  are.  We  have  no  means  of  ascertaining  the 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  315 

name  of  a  single  minister  of  this  ancient  shire  for  nearly  a  century 
after  its  establishment.  In  the  year  1724,  the  Rev.  Peter  Fon- 
taine gives  an  account  of  himself  and  his  parish.  He  came  into 
it  nine  years  before  that  time, —  had  officiated  in  Wallingford, 
Weynoake,  Martins  Brandon,  and  Jamestown,  before  the  new  ar- 
rangement. He  had  now  three  churches  in  Westover  parish,  the 
upper  or  Westover  Church,  and  the  lower  church  near  the  Chicka- 
hominy,  formerly  in  Wallingford  parish.  The  length  of  this  parish 
was  thirty  miles  ;  the  number  of  families  two  hundred  and  thirty- 
three,  of  communicants  seventy-five.  He  was  as  attentive  to  the 
instruction  of  children  and  servants  as  circumstances  would  allow. 
There  were  two  glebes  in  his  parish,  neither  of  which  had  houses 
on  them,  and  the  best  of  them  rented  for  thirty  shillings.  He 
lived  in  his  own  house  and  on  his  own  farm.  His  salary,  besides  per- 
quisites, was  from  fifty  to  sixty  pounds.  Mr.  Fontaine  is  the  same 
minister  of  whom  we  have  spoken  as  accompanying  Colonel  Byrd 
on  that  most  laborious  and  dangerous  expedition  for  running  the 
dividing-line  between  Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  Colonel  Byrd 
evidently  held  him  in  the  highest  esteem,  as  doubtless  did  all  his 
parishioners.  We  find  him  still  living  in  their  affections  and  labour- 
ing among  them  in  the  year  1757.  He  died  in  the  month  of  July 
of  that  year.  After  expressing  a  firm  trust  in  a  joyful  resurrec- 
tion through  the  blood  of  a  merciful  Redeemer,  he  concludes  his 
will  by  saying,  "  My  will  and  desire  is,  that  I  may  have  no  public 
funeral,  but  that  my  corpse  may  be  accompanied  by  a  few  of  my 
nearest  neighbours ;  that  no  liquors  be  given  to  make  any  of  the 
company  drunk, — many  instances  of  which  I  have  seen,  to  the 
great  scandal  of  the  Christian  religion  and  abuse  of  so  solemn  an 
ordinance.  I  desire  none  of  my  family  to  go  in  mourning  for 
me." 

Concerning  this  good  man  and  his  family,  something  more  must 
be  said.  I  have  already,  in  my  article  on  one  of  the  parishes  in 
Albemarle,  referred  to  the  interesting  history  of  the  Fontaine 
family  as  set  forth  by  Miss  Ann  Maury  and  Dr.  Hawks.  I  refer 
to  it  again,  and  commend  it  to  all  as  having  all  the  interest  of  the 
best  novels,  without  their  imperfections  and  evils.  Mr.  Peter  Fon- 
taine was  one  of  six  children  (five  sons  and  one  daughter)  of  two 
pious  and  valiant  Huguenots,  who  fled  from  France  to  England. 
Giving  their  children  a  good  education,  especially  as  to  religion, 
they  committed  "  them  to  the  providence  of  a  covenant  God  to  seek 
their  fortune  in  the  wide  world."  All  of  them  came  to  America, 
though  two  of  them — Moses  and  John — returned  to  England.  The 


I 

316  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

daughter,  Mary  Ann,  married  Matthew  Maury,  from  Gascony,  and, 
coming  to  America,  became  the  mother  of  a  numerous  posterity. 
James  Fontaine  settled  in  King  William  as  a  farmer,  and  is  also 
the  ancestor  of  many  most  respectable  families  in  Virginia  and 
elsewhere.  Francis  was  the  minister  of  whom  we  have  already 
spoken  in  our  article  on  York-Hampton.  Peter  is  the  worthy 
person  of  whom  we  are  now  speaking,  and  who  also  has  his  descend- 
ants spread  over  our  own  and  other  States.  Nor  are  the  names  of 
Fontaine  and  Maury  absent  from  the  lists  of  our  present  American 
Episcopal  clergy.  Of  Mr.  Peter  Fontaine,  who  spent  his  whole 
ministry  of  about  forty  years  in  the  county  of  Charles  City,  with 
the  exception  of  a  short  time  at  Jamestown  and  Wallingford  parish, 
it  becomes  us  to  add  something  more.  His  letters  to  various  rela- 
tives, and  one  of  his  sermons,  furnish  us  with  the  means.  It  was 
the  pious  custom  of  the  Fontaines  to  assemble  annually,  and  hold  a 
solemn  religious  thanksgiving  in  commemoration  of  their  deliverance 
from  persecution  in  France,  and  remarkable  preservation  when 
attacked  by  French  privateers  in  the  North  of  Ireland.  I  have 
before  me  a  sermon  on  one  of  those  occasions,  preached  by  Peter 
Fontaine.  After  a  suitable  prayer,  which  is  prefaced  to  it,  he  takes 
for  his  text  that  passage  from  Romans, — "  That  ye  may  with  one 
mind  and  with  one  mouth  glorify  God,  even  the  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ."  After  a  general  consideration  of  the  duty  enjoined 
by  the  text,  he  applies  it  to  their  particular  case.  Alluding  to  the 
former,  he  says, — 

"Several  months  was  our  parent  obliged  to  shift  among  forests  and 
deserts  for  his  safety,  because  he  had  preached  the  word  of  God  to  a  con- 
gregation of  innocent  and  sincere  persons,  who  desired  to  be  instructed  in 
their  duty  and  confirmed  in  their  faith.  The  woods  afforded  him  a  shelter 
and  the  rocks  a  resting-place;  but  his  enemies  gave  him  no  quiet,  until, 
of  his  own  accord,  he  delivered  himself  up  to  their  custody.  They  loaded 
his  hands  with  chains,  his  feet  stuck  fast  in  the  mire,  a  dungeon  was  his 
abode,  and  murderers  and  thieves  were  his  companions,  until  God  by 
means  of  a  pious  gentlewoman,  whose  kindness  ought  to  be  remembered 
by  us  even  to  latest  posterity,  withdrew  him  from  thence,  and  was  the 
occasion  that  his  confinement  was  more  tolerable." 

He  exhorts  them  in  the  close  of  the  sermon  never  to  forsake 
their  annual  meetings,  which  were  so  calculated  to  keep  up  the 
remembrance  of  their  parent's  virtues  and  sufferings,  and  the  won- 
derful deliverance  of  God.  "  Would  to  God,"  he  says,  "  that  you 
would  make  it  your  business  to  teach  them  to  your  children,  that 
they  may  be  qualified  to  perpetuate  them  to  infinite  generations  to 


FAMILIES  OF  VIRGINIA.  317 

come,  and  thereby  engage  the  protection  and  draw  the  blessing  of 
the  Almighty  upon  them ;  for  God  is  not  like  Jacob,  who  hath  only 
one  blessing  in  store.  He  hath  millions  of  millions  to  bestow  on 
those  who  love  and  fear  him."  We  believe  that  the  recollection  of 
these  things  has  had  a  happy  religious  effect  on  very  many  of  this 
wide-spread  family.  A  passage  from  one  of  the  letters  of  Mrs. 
Maury,  the  sister  of  Peter  Fontaine,  concerning  his  family,  is 
worthy  of  insertion : — 

"  My  brother  Peter's  first  wife,  Lizzy,  was  one  of  the  loveliest  creatures 
I  ever  saw.  God  had  endowed  her  with  all  the  virtues  of  a  good  Christian 
wife  and  a  watchful  mother.  She  never  let  the  least  thing  pass  in  her 
children  that  had  any  apperance  of  evil  in  it,  and  was  very  tender  of  them. 
His  present  wife  is  a  lovely,  sweet-tempered  woman,  and  she,  Mary  Ann, 
and  Peter,  have  an  unusual  tenderness  for  each  other ;  and  I  believe  if 
they  were  her  own  children  she  could  not  show  more  tenderness  to  them. 
My  brother  has  two  children  by  her, — a  boy  and  a  girl.  The  boy  is  named 
Thomas.  I  hope  God  will  spare  my  brother's  life  to  raise  them  as  he  hath 
the  other  two,  who  are  examples  of  piety  and  wisdom,  and  a  great  comfort 
to  their  parents  and  us." 

There  is  one  passage  from  a  letter  of  Mr.  Fontaine  to  one  of  his 
brothers  in  England,  on  the  subject  of  preserving  health,  which  is 
worthy  of  him  as  a  man  and  as  a  minister.  Besides  commending 
active  exercise  in  the  open  air  on  foot  and  horseback,  and  a  careful 
consideration  of  one's  own  constitution  so  as  to  be  our  own  physi- 
cian, he  adds  this  valuable  hint: — "I  drink  no  spirituous  liquors  at 
all ;  no  small  beer ;  but  when  I  am  obliged  to  take  more  than  ordi- 
nary fatigue,  either  in  serving  my  churches  or  other  branches  of 
duty,  I  take  one  glass  of  good  old  Madeira  wine,  which  revives  me 
and  contributes  to  my  going  through  without  much  fatigue." 

Happy  would  it  have  been  for  the  Church  of  Virginia  had  all 
her  members  prescribed  such  bounds  to  themselves.  Mr.  Fontaine, 
though  living  in  the  midst  of  the  opulent  and  voluptuous  gentlemen 
on  James  River,  was  no  wine-bibber  sitting  at  their  tables  and 
quaffing  glass  after  glass  of  their  rich  wines  after  having  imbibed 
something  stronger,  perhaps,  before  and  at  dinner,  but  confined  him- 
self to  one  glass  of  pure  wine  when  weariness  called  for  it,  eschew- 
ing all  other  liquors.  Though  we  think  expediency  and  a  due 
regard  to  personal  security  now  call  for  even  more  abstinence,  on 
the  part  of  the  clergy  especially,  yet  we  are  free  to  say  that  if  all 
had  restricted  themselves  as  did  Mr.  Fontaine,  there  would  have 
been  no  need,  so  far  as  the  clergy  are  concerned,  of  a  temperance- 
society.  No  one  can  doubt  on  which  side  of  the  question  Mr. 


I 

318  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

Fontaine  would  be  were  he  living  in  our  day.  And  had  the  rich 
gentlemen  of  Virginia  but  followed  his  example,  how  many  estates 
would  have  been  saved  from  ruin,  how  many  families  from  disper- 
sion, how  many  young  men  from  the  grave  of  the  drunkard! 

Our  remaining  work  as  to  the  ministers  of  Westover  parish  will 
be  brief.  In  the  year  1758 — three  years  after  the  death  of  Mr. 
Fontaine — we  find  on  an  English  list  the  name  of  William  Davis  as 
minister  of  this  parish ;  and  the  same  is  found  on  a  list  in  the  Vir- 
ginia Almanac  for  1773.  In  the  year  1776  we  find  the  name  of 
James  Ogilvie.  No  accounts  have  reached  us  of  the  character  of 
either  of  them.  In  the  year  1786  we  meet  with  the  name  of  the 
Rev.  John  Dunbar, — a  name  to  be  met  with  previously  as  minister- 
ing in  other  parishes.  For  the  honour  of  the  Church  it  were  to  be 
wished  that  it  had  never  been  on  any  list  of  the  clergy.  He  mar- 
ried a  daughter  of  Colonel  Byrd,  of  Westover,  of  whom  we  have 
already  spoken.*  By  none  was  he  better  known  and  more  despised 
than  by  the  members  of  that  family.  Often  has  one  of  its  most 
pious  members,  who  in  infancy  was  baptized  by  him,  spoken  to  me 
with  concern  about  her  baptism,  asking  whether  it  could  not  be 
repeated,  saying  that  she  found  it  hard  to  regard  herself  as  bap- 
tized. Nor  is  it  wonderful,  when  it  is  considered  that,  besides  other 
vices,  he  openly  renounced  the  ministry  and  with  it  the  Christian 
faith,  and,  if  I  have  been  rightly  informed,  fought  a  duel  in  sight 
of  Old  Westover  Church,  in  which  he  had  once  officiated.  Hap- 
pily, he  left  no  descendants  to  blush  at  the  above  recital. 

In  the  year  1793  we  find  the  Rev.  Sewal  Chapin  in  the  Episcopal 
Convention  at  Richmond,  with  Mr.  Charles  Carter,  of  Shirley,  as 
lay  delegate.  Mr.  Chapin  continued  on  the  list  of  clergy  as  long 
as  the  Conventions  continued ;  that  is,  until  the  year  1805,  when 
they  ceased  until  1812.  How  long  Mr.  Chapin  was  minister  after 
1805  we  are  unable  to  state,  nor  can  we  speak  with  any  certainty 
as  to  his  religious  views  and  character.  Thus  ends  the  history  of 


*  There  were  three  of  the  name  of  Byrd  in  Virginia,  of  whom  we  read  in  various 
Virginia  documents.  The  first,  who  was  the  father  of  the  family  and  early  owner 
of  lands  about  Richmond  and  of  the  place  called  Belvidera,  is  spoken  of  in  my 
Lambeth  Documents  as  being  engaged  with  Commissary  Blair  in  the  incipient  steps 
about  the  College  of  William  and  Mary.  The  part  of  it  called  the  Chapel  was 
contracted  for  and  the  erecting  of  it  superintended  by  him  in  the  time  of  Governor 
Andros,  between  the  years  1690  and  1700.  The  second  was  Colonel  Byrd,  the 
author  of  the  Westover  Papers  and  owner  of  Westover.  The  third  was  the  last 
of  the  name  who  owned  Westover,  and  was  with  General  Washington  when  encamped 
at  Winchester  and  defending  the  frontiers  against  the  Indians. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  319 

Westover  parish  previous  to  the  revival  of  the  Church,  which  com- 
menced in  1812.  So  low  was  the  condition  of  the  parish  that  it 
was  some  time  before  even  an  effort  was  made  in  its  behalf.  In  the 
year  1833  the  Rev.  Farley  Berkeley,  now  of  Amelia,  acted  as  mis- 
sionary in  Charles  City,  Chesterfield,  and  King  William,  and  some- 
what revived  the  hopes  of  these  old  parishes.  He  was  followed  in 
Westover  parish  in  the  year  1835  by  the  Rev.  Alexander  Norris, 
who  continued  its  minister  until  1838.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Leavell  suc- 
ceeded Mr.  Norris,  and  continued  in  the  parish  until  1853.  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Okeson  took  his  place.  Mr.  Okeson  resigned  his  charge 
the  past  year,  (1856,)  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wade  has  accepted  a  call 
from  the  parish. 

As  to  the  churches  in  Westover  parish,  we  know  nothing  of  the 
history  of  that  at  Weynoake,  or  of  that  near  the  Chickahominy, 
except  that  they  are  now  nowhere  to  be  seen.  The  Old  Westover 
still  stands,  a  relic  and  monument  of  ancient  times.  A  new 
church  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Weynoake  was  put  up  some  years 
ago,  but  has  recently  been  destroyed  by  fire.  Another  is  now 
rising  up  upon  the  same  site. 

I  wish  it  were  in  my  power  to  furnish  a  list  of  the  vestrymen  of 
Westover  parish  from  an  early  period,  as  in  so  doing  I  should  give 
the  names  of  the  principal  Episcopal  families  of  Charles  City ;  but, 
no  remnant  of  a  parish-record  being  preserved,  I  am  unable  to  do 
any  thing  more  than  mention  a  few  names  familiar  to  my  ears. 
The  Lightfoots,  Minges,  Byrds,  Carters,  Harrisons,  Tylers,  Chris- 
tians, Seldens,  Nelsons,  Lewises,  Douthats,  and  Wilcoxes,  are 
those  best  known  to  me. 

The  following  extract  from  the  letter  of  a  friend  is  an  interest- 
ing addition  to  this  article : — 

"The  old  church  and  churchyard  were  near  the  present  Westover 
House, — about  one-quarter  mile  up  the  river-bank, — where  are  some  very 
old  tombstones,  besides  that  of  Benjamin  Harrison.  The  present  West- 
over  Church  was  built  by  Mrs.  Byrd  on  her  land,  called  Evelington.  The 
minister  once  resided  on  the  adjacent  tract,  called  Westing,  which  also 
belonged  to  the  Westover  estate,  across  the  creek  from  the  Westover 
House.  Perhaps  it  was  only  Mr.  Dunbarwho  occupied  that  farm;  for  the 
glebe  proper  was  between  the  two  churches,  and  below  the  present  court- 
house about  two  miles. 

"The  clerk  of  the  county  has  told  me  that  the  county  was  divided  into 
two  parishes, — Westover  and  Mapsco.  The  part  abovve  the  court-house  was 
called  Westover,  and  the  part  below  called  Mapsco,  from  an  Indian  tribe 
who  gave  name  to  the  creek  near  where  the  Old  Brick  Church,  called 
Mapsco,  stood,  about  seven  miles  below  the  court-house  and  immediately 
on  the  road  to  Sandy  Point, — the  old  seat  of  the  Lightfoot  family.  That 


I 

320  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

church  was  convenient  to*  the  Chickahominy  neighbourhood,  being  onh 
seven  or  eight  miles  from  the  mouth  of  that  river,  where  the  most  of  th* 
earlier  friends  of  the  Church  in  that  part  of  the  county  must  hav< 
resided;  and  it  was  behind  the  Old  Mapsco  Church  that  it  is  said  that 
one  of  its  ministers — either  Davis  or  Dunbar — fought  a  duel.  The  quarrel 
originated  about  a  horse-race.  An  additional  fact  was  related  to  me  by 
the  late  Benjamin  Harrison,  of  Berkeley, — viz. :  That  this  Mr.  Dunbar 
offered  to  be  the  bearer  of  a  challenge  from  Benjamin  Harrison,  of 
Berkeley,  to  Benjamin  Harrison,  of  Brandon,  assuring  the  former,  as  his 
friend,  that  the  conduct  of  the  latter  justified  such  notice.  But  Mr. 
Harrison,  of  Berkeley,  was  not  persuaded  by  him.  The  note  was  at 
Berkeley,  and  Mr.  Harrison  promised  to  show  it  to  me  when  he  had  more 
leisure ;  but  he  died  suddenly  soon  after. 

"  In  addition  to  the  names  of  the  old  ministers  you  have  mentioned  in 
your  article,  I  have  been  told  by  some  very  old  servants,  and  some  of  the 
oldest  citizens  too,  that  there  were  two  others  remembered  besides  Chapin, 
who  was  the  last  occupant  of  the  glebe,  whilst  the  churches  mouldered 
away  or  were  used  as  barns.  That  of  Westover  was  so  used  at  the  time 
the  friends  of  the  Church  got  possession  of  it,  when  the  family  at  Berke- 
ley and  Shirley  undertook  its  repairs.  The  other  two  ministers  were 
Black  and  Blagrove.  Several  servants  told  me  they  were  christened  by 
Parson  Black.  Old  Mr.  Chapin  occupied  the  glebe  until  persuaded  by 
Mr.  F.  Lewis,  of  Weynoake,  and  Mr.  Colier  Harrison,  of  Kettiuvan,  to  rent 
out  the  place  and  come  and  live  with  them.  He  died  at  Weynoake,  the 
residence  of  Mr.  F.  Lewis,  and  was  buried  in  the  aisle  and  under  the 
present  chancel  of  the  Westover  Church.  I  have  made  frequent  inquiry 
for  his  sermons,  &c.,  but  have  never  been  able  to  find  any:  all  that  could 
be  remembered  of  them  was  that  they  served  the  young  ladies  for  paper 
in  which  to  roll  up  their  hair  at  night." 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  321 


ARTICLE  XXVII. 

Parishes  in  Gloucester. — No.  1.      Petsworth  and  Kingston. 

GLOUCESTER  is  recognised  as  a  county  in  1652,  when  it  was  repre- 
sented in  the  House  of  Burgesses  by  Colonel  Hugh  Gwinne  and 
Francis  Willis.  No  change  took  place  in  it  until  1790,  when 
Mathews  county  was  cut  off.  The  parishes  in  Gloucester  in  1754 
were  Petsworth,  Abingdon,  Ware,  and  Kingston,  the  last  being  cut 
off  with  Mathews  in  1790.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Carraway,  having  hunted 
up  some  mutilated  copies  of  the  vestry-books  of  Petsworth  and 
Kingston,  has  furnished  the  following  summary  of  the  contents  of 
the  former : — "  Petsworth  exists  only  on  paper :  its  church  and 
worshippers  have  alike  ceased  to  be."  The  writer,  feeling  a  com- 
mon interest  with  those  who  wish  to  gather  up  the  history  of  the 
Colonial  times,  proceeds  to  note  some  facts  drawn  from  the  old  ves- 
try-book. This  book  contains,  with  a  slight  exception,  the  records 
of  the  vestry-meetings  from  the  year  1677  to  1793.  When  com- 
menced and  closed,  its  torn  condition  permits  us  not  to  discover. 
In  1677  there  is  an  order  for  the  completion  and  furnishing  of  a 
church  at  Poplar  Spring.  At  this  date  there  is  mention  of  a  lower 
church  within  the  parish,  which  in  the  year  1695  is  spoken  of  as  the 
"  Old  Church."  It  being  then  a  ruin,  it  was  determined  not  to  re- 
build on  its  site,  but  to  have  only  one  place  of  worship,  and  that  to 
be  kept  in  "thorough  order  and  repair." 

In  1684  we  find  the  following  entries: — "His  Excellency  the 
Governor,  having  given  to  this  Church  one  large  Bible,  one  Book 
of  Common  Prayer,  one  Book  of  Homilies,  the  Thirty-nine  Articles, 
and  Book  of  Canons  of  the  Church  of  England :  it  is  ordered  that 
the  clerk  of  the  vestry  enter  the  same  in  the  register,  to  the  end 
His  Lordship's  so  pious  a  gift  may  be  gratefully  remembered." 
"  Ordered,  that  the  clerk  enter  into  the  register  of  this  parish  the 
generous  and  pious  gift  of  the  Hon.  Augustine  Warner,  deceased, 
to  this  church, — viz. :  one  silver  flagon,  two  silver  bowls,  and  two 
silver  plates,  which,  though  long  since  given,  hath  not  yet  been  en- 
tered." In  1723  an  order  was  made  for  the  building  of  a  new 
church  at  Poplar  Spring, — the  cost  of  said  building,  exclusive  of 
painting,  &c.,  to  be  eleven  hundred  and  ninety  pounds  Virginia 

21 


J 

322  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

currency.  This  churcn  was  standing  a  few  years  since,  and  but  for 
the  ruthless  hand  of  cupidity  it  might  have  stood  for  centuries.  The 
writer  will  never  forget  his  feelings  as  he  looked  upon  it  when  the 
wprk  of  destruction  and  desecration  was  going  on.  There  remained 
enough  then  of  its  former  condition  and  elegance  to  assure  the  be- 
holder that  they  who  erected  this  temple  entered  into  the  meaning 
of  God's  ancient  prophet,  who  taught  that  sacred  edifices  should 
exceed,  in  comfort  and  stability  and  magnificence,  private  abodes. 
We  gather  from  the  records  in  the  large  expenditure  for  painting, 
and  in  the  way  of  furnishing  and  ornamenting,  that  no  means  were 
spared  to  present  a  church  of  the  finest  taste  and  finish.  Such  it 
doubtless  was, — perhaps  too  gorgeous  for  our  republican  simplicity. 
The  writer  has  talked  with  persons  who  remembered  this  church. 
One  of  them — the  late  Mrs.  Page,  of  Shelly — had  much  to  say  of  the 
former  glory  of  old  Petsworth.  She,  in  childhood,  had  been  a  wor- 
shipper within  its  hallowed  courts,  and  had  united  her  voice  in  songs 
of  praise  with  the  swelling  notes  of  the  organ.  In  confirmation  of 
the  liberality  of  this  congregation  and  the  elegance  of  the  church, 
we  make  the  following  copies  from  the  record : — At  a  vestry-meeting 
in  1735,  it  is  noted  that  "there  were  great  subscriptions  made  by  the 
present  vestry  for  an  organ,  to  be  purchased  for  the  use  of  the  church 
at  Petsworth ;  also,  it  was  directed  that  seven  hundred  gold  leaves 
be  ordered  for  the  use  of  the  painter.  In  1751  the  vestry  ordered 
Mr.  Augustine  Smith  to  send  to  England  for  '  pulpit,  and  table-cloth, 
and  cushion ;'  the  cloth  to  be  of  crimson  velvet,  with  a  gold  fringe 
and  lace."  A  subsequent  entry  shows  that  the  cost  of  the  same  was 
one  hundred  and  fifty-four  pounds,  sixteen  shillings,  sixpence,  cur- 
rent money.  Much  refinement  and  wealth  were  found  in  the  numerous 
families  who  worshipped  within  the  venerable  church.  Among  those 
who  were  active  in  the  duties  of  the  parish  may  be  mentioned  the 
name  of  Porteus.  It  appears  on  the  record  from  the  earliest  date. 
This  is  the  family  of  Beilby  Porteus,  Bishop  of  London,  who,  it  is 
supposed,  was  a  native  of  Gloucester.  Also,  Colonel  John  Wash- 
ington, and  son  Warner,  and  their  ancestor,  Augustine  Warner.* 


*  The  following  letter  is  from  a  lady  who  in  her  youth  saw  this  church  at  Poplar 
Spring : — 

"  DEAR  BISHOP  : — I  have  been  thinking  you  might  perhaps  like  to  hear  a  little  of 
Old  Poplar  Spring  Church,  in  Gloucester,  which  was  a  few  miles  above  Rosewell,  on 
the  road  that  passed  up  to  King  and  Queen.  My  first  recollections  of  it  were  very 
pleasing,  as  I  was  going  with  my  mother  in  the  old  Rosewell  coach.  It  was  in  warm 
weather,  and  mamma  desired  the  driver  to  stop  under  the  shade  near  the  spring, 
while  we  all  got  out ;  and,  after  drinking  some  of  the  cool  water,  she  took  us  into  the 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  323 


A   LIST   OF   THE   MINISTERS   OF   THE   PARISH. 

In  1677,  Rev.  Thomas  Vicaris,  who  continued  until  his  death  in 
1697,  when  the  Rev.  Joseph  Holt  was  employed  as  a  temporary 
supply.  In  1700,  Rev.  George  Young  was  elected  upon  the  nomina- 
tion of  Governor  Nicholson ;  he  remained  only  a  few  months,  when 
the  Rev.  Emanuel  Jones  was  chosen,  who  served  until  his  death,  in 
the  year  1739.  Rev.  John  Read  supplied  the  pulpit  until  the  return 
of  Mr.  Ford.  In  1741,  Robert  Yates,  a  member  of  the  congregation, 
was  sent  to  England  for  Orders.  He  continued  the  minister  until  his 
death,  in  1761.  In  1762,  Rev.  James  Horrox  served  in  the  place 
of  Mr.  James  Maury  Fontaine,  who  had  been  sent  to  England  for 
Orders.  In  1764,  the  Rev.  James  M.  Fontaine  was  the  minister 
for  a  few  months,  and  removed  to  Ware  parish.  The  vestry  then 
elected  one  of  their  own  body,  Captain  Charles  Minn  Thruston, 
who  went  to  England  for  Orders.  In  1767,  Rev.  Charles  M.  Thrus- 
ton ;  he  served  until  the  year  1768,  when  he  resigned.  In  1768, 
Rev.  Arthur  Hamilton  :  no  mention  of  him  after  this  year.  1776, 
1777,  1778,  1779,  1780,  1781,  supposed  to  be  vacant.  In  1782, 

church,  and  showed  us  the  remains  of  the  fine  painting,  over  what  had  been  the 
chancel,  and  told  us  how  it  had  been  when  she  first  remembered  it.  I  think  I  then 
first  received  a  correct  idea  of  the  solemn  use  and  importance  of  a  church,  as  I  must 
have  been  very  young.  I  remember  a  broad  cornice,  painted  with  the  resemblance 
of  a  bright  blue  sky,  and  clouds  rolling  off  on  either  hand ;  below  this  were  frag- 
ments of  the  plaster,  extending  farther  down  at  the  corners,  and  representing  an 
immense  crimson  curtain  drawn  back.  I  remember  seeing  part  of  what  seemed  a 
very  large  cord  and  tassel.  Mamma  said  there  used  to  be  an  angel  just  where  the 
curtain  was  drawn  on  one  side,  with  a  trumpet  in  his  hand,  and  rolling  on  toward 
him  were  vast  bodies  of  clouds  with  angels  in  them,  and  that  she  used  to  fancy  one 
of  the  faces  was  like  her  dear  little  brother  John,  who  was  drowned  when  only  ten 
years  old,  and  who  had  been  her  playfellow,  she  being  next  to  him  in  age.  I  feel 
sure  that  then.  I  first  understood  about  the  last  Judgment ;  for  I  seldom  think  of  that 
great  day,  but  what  my  dear  mother  and  the  painting  at  Poplar  Spring  Church 
are  not  united  in  my  memory  as  a  kind  of  picture,  the  groundwork  being  the  ruined 
church,  the  bright  green  grass,  the  shade,  and  the  cool  spring.  Our  dear  mother's 
teachings,  on  that  and  other  occasions,  were  so  mixed  with  a  sorrow  for  the  state 
of  the  Episcopal  churches,  and  the  want  of  ministers  'since  Mr.  Fontaine's  death,' 
that,  childlike,  I  thought  Mr.  Fontaine  must  have  been  the  best  and  greatest  man 
in  the  world,  except  my  grandpapa.  Most  of  the  flagstones  in  the  middle  aisle  were 
there  on  my  first  visit.  On  passing  it  in  later  years,  all  trace  of  the  bright  colours 
had  departed,  and  the  stones  which  had  so  often  echoed  the  steps  of  those  who 
came  to  worship  God  had  been  removed  for  more  unhallowed  purposes.  And  the 
last  time  I  saw  it  some  cows  were  reposing  on  the  bare  ground  within,  and  swallows, 
bats,  and  other  birds  occupied  the  large  roof.  As  regards  the  painting,  I  have  so 
often  heard  my  mother  speak  of  it,  that  I  am  sure  I  cannot  do  it  full  justice  by  my 
description,  but  can  only  say  what  I  remember." 


I 

324  OLD   CHURCHES, 

Rev.  Thomas  Price:  not  known  how  long  he  served.  In  1790, 
Rev.  James  Elliott.  In  1791,  Rev.  James  Fontaine  was  elected  as 
weekly  lecturer;  in  1792,  Rev.  Thomas  Hughes.  Mr.  Hughes 
was  a  member  of  the  congregation,  and  ordained  by  Bishop 
Madison. 

We  make  the  following  significant  extract  from  the  vestry-book. 
It  has  reference  to  one  who  had  been  the  minister  of  the  parish  for 
many  years: — "Ordered,  that  Mr.  Vicaris,  the  present  minister, 
continue  in  his  charge  and  exercise  his  ministerial  functions  until 
the  next  shipping,  in  hopes  of  his  future  amendment,  he  declaring 
his  willingness  then  to  leave  the  place  if  not  approved  by  the  pre- 
cinct and  vestry."  He  became  a  reformed  man,  and  was  minister 
for  some  years.  (By  the  next  shipping  was  meant  the  next  impor- 
tation of  ministers  from  England.)  On  agreeing  with  a  clergyman  it 
was  ordered,  "That  he,  the  said  clergyman,  will  behave  himself  in 
his  ministerial  function  upon  all  occasions." 

The  site  of  this  church,  now  only  marked  by  a  few  ancient  tombs, 
is  claimed  as  private  property.  The  glebe  was  sold  under  the  law 
of  1802.  No  information  is  possessed  by  the  author  concerning  the 
plate.  The  sermons  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Yates  were  found  in  the 
library  of  Mr.  John  Randolph,  and  were  sold  and  purchased  with 
other  books  and  manuscripts.* 

Vestry  of  Petsworth  Parish. 

John  Buckner,  Robt.  Lee,  Thomas  Royston,  Philip  Lightfoot,  William 
Thornton,  Thomas  Pate,  William  Pritchet,  John  Ascough,  William  Throck- 
morton,  William  Hansford,  Thomas  Ramsey,  Thomas  Miller,  Richard 
Barnett,  Ralph  Greene,  Robert  Carter,  Charles  Roan,  William  Thorn- 
ton, Jr.,  Robert  Cobb,  Edward  Porteus,  William  Grymes,  Thomas 
Buckner,  James  Dudley,  John  Evans,  Colquit  Wyatt,  Robert  Yeardley, 
Captain  John  Smith,  Richard  Stignor,  William  Barnard,  William  Brook- 
ing, Thomas  Cook,  Nicholas  Smith,  David  Alexander,  William  Dodsley, 
William  Upshaw,  John  Pate,  Robert  Porteus,  John  Pratt,  John  Coleman, 
Albion  Throckmorton,  Augustine  Smith,  Philip  Smith,  Richard  Seaton, 
Henry  Willis,  Francis  Wyatt,  Thomas  Green,  Thos.  Booth,  Sr.,  Bayley 
Seaton.  Thomas  Stubbs,  Francis  Thornton,  John  Read,  John  Washington, 
William  Miller,  Thomas  Green,  Captain  John  Alexander,  Seth  Thornton, 

*  The  following  account  of  the  bricks  has  been  given  me  : — 

"  Several  efforts  were  made  to  remove  the  bricks  from  Petsoe,  and  were  prevented 

by  presentments  before  the  Grand  Jury ;  but  some  years  since,  Mr. ,  whilst 

building  a  hotel  at  Old  Point,   purchased  from  Mr. ,  who  owned  the  land, 

any  right  he  might  have  in  the  remains  of  the  old  church,  and  under  that  deed 

Mr. removed  the  bricks.     The  hotel  was  struck  by  lightning  and  injured 

before  its  completion." 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  325 

Samuel  Buckner,  Mr.  John  Throckmorton,  Thomas  Booth,  John  Royston, 
David  Alexander,  George  Reade,  Gwynne  Read,  Bayley  Seaton,  Warner 
Washington,  John  Stubbs,  James  Carter,  James  Hubard,  Edward  Wyatt, 
John  Shirmon,  William  Thornton,  Richard  Jones,  Peter  Kemp,  Francis 
Stubbs,  Ludwell  Grymes,  John  Wyatt,  John  Scott,  Geo.  Booth,  John 
Buckner,  Chas.  Minn  Thruston,  John  Roots,  Alexander  Dalgleish,  James 
Hubard,  Jr.,  Henry  Whiting,  Richard  Taliafero,  Lewis  Booker,  William 
Duval,  John  Fox,  Captain  John  Hubard,  Jonathan  Watson,  Sterling 
Thornton,  Peter  Wyatt,  Win.  Sears,  Robert  Yates,  Charles  Tompkins,  M. 
Anderson,  Benjamin  Dabney,  James  Baytop,  Lewis  Booker,  Jr.,  Chris- 
topher Garland,  Meaux  Thornton,  Major  John  Hughes,  William  Booth, 
Francis  Duval,  Lewis  Wood.  [The  remainder  torn  out.] 

KINGSTON   PARISH,    MATHEWS   COUNTY. 

This  was  originally  one  of  the  parishes  in  Gloucester.  There 
are  loose  leaves  of  an  old  vestry -book,  going  back  to  the  year  1677, 
the  first  of  which  leaves  do  not  indicate  how  much  older  the  book 
was.  It  was  called  the  parish  in  North  River  precinct.  It  has  a 
peculiarity  distinguishing  it  from  all  other  parishes.  With  the 
vestrymen,  who  were  generally  very  few,  there  met  a  larger  number 
of  the  inhabitants,  who  seem  to  have  managed  the  affairs  of  the 
parish  in  conjunction. 

From  1677  to  1691  the  Rev.  Michael  Typerios  and  James  Bowker 
were  ministers ;  but  when  their  ministries  began  or  ended  cannot 
be  made  out.  In  the  year  1740  the  Rev.  John  Blacknal  appears 
on  the  first  page  of  another  imperfect  vestry-book.  It  cannot  be 
ascertained  how  much  of  the  vestry-book  was  lost,  and  how  long 
Mr.  Blacknal  may  have  been  the  minister  before  1740.  He  died 
in  1747,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  John  Dixon  in  1750,  the 
Rev.  John  Locke  having  served  meanwhile  for  three  months.  In 
the  year  1770  Mr.  Dixon  resigned,  and  died  in  1777.  Four  appli- 
cants appeared  for  the  parish, — the  Revs.  Thomas  Baker,  Thomas 
Field,  Arthur  Hamilton,  and  Archibald  Avens,  of  whom  Mr.  Field 
was  chosen, — Mr.  Baker  having  previously  served  three  months. 
In  the  year  1778,  Mr.  Field  either  dying  or  resigning,  Revs.  Robert 
Read  and  William  Dunlop  were  candidates,  when  the  former  was 
chosen.  In  the  year  1784  the  Rev.  Thomas  Hopkinson  became  its 
minister,  and  in  the  year  1789  the  Rev.  James  McBride.  In  1794 
the  Rev.  Armistead  Smith,  of  the  old  family  of  Smiths  in  that  part 
of  Virginia,  became  the  minister,  being  ordained  by  Bishop  Madi- 
son. He  served  the  parish  until  his  death  in  1817.  "  His  descend- 
ants and  relatives,"  says  the  Rev.  Mr.  Carraway,  the  present 
minister  of*  the  parish,  "  are  amongst  the  foremost  friends  of  the 


I 

326  OLD  €HURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

Church,  and  most  of  them  communicants."  One  of  the  family,  the 
late  Miss  Elizabeth  Tompkins,  was  the  instrument  under  God  for 
the  revival  of  the  church.  Under  circumstances  the  most  discou- 
raging, she  determined  to  build  a  house  of  prayer,  in  which  the  few 
scattered  ones  "  who  loved  the  old  paths"  might  worship  the  God 
of  their  fathers.  Her  efforts  were  crowned  with  success.  She 
lived  to  witness  the  completion  of  her  dear  little  church,  and  her 
highest  earthly  joy  was  experienced  when  she  first  heard  within  its 
walls  these  solemn  words : — "The  Lord  is  in  his  holy  temple," 
"declared  by  the  minister  of  salvation."  Mr.  Carraway  adds  that 
there  were  once  four  places  of  worship  in  the  parish,  over  two  of 
which  the  plough  and  the  harrow  have  passed.  On  the  sites  of  the 
others  two  churches  have  recently  been  erected, — the  one  just  men- 
tioned, and  another  under  his  special  care.  Tradition  says  that 
one  of  the  old  churches  was  a  private  chapel  of  the  "family  of 
Hesse,"  the  residence  of  the  Armisteads. 

By  giving  a  list  of  the  old  vestrymen  we  shall  see  who  were  the 
most  prominent  persons  in  Church  matters.  Mr.  Carraway  mentions 
them  as  the  "  Dudleys,  Armisteads,  Carys,  Tabbs,  Gwynns,  Billops, 
Throckmortons,  and  Sir  John  Peyton," — the  latter  being  the  patriot 
of  the  Revolution  as  well  as  the  Churchman. 

Names  of  the  Vestrymen,  beginning  in  1677. 

Richard  Dudley,  James  Ransom,  James  Hill,  Sands  Knowles,  George 
Surge,  Thos.  Bayley,  Robert  Elliot,  Ambrose  Dudley,  Peter  Ransom, 
John  Billop,  William  Tompkins,  Charles  Jones,  John  Coot,  Humphrey 
Tompkins,  Edmund  Roberts,  George  Dudley,  John  Hayes,  Hugh  Gwinne, 
Robert  Barnard,  Charles  Debrum,  William  Marlow,  Humphrey  Joye 
Tabb,  Wm.  Armistead,  Kemp  Plumer,  Gwinne  Reade,  Thomas  Hayes, 
Wm.  Tabb,  Chas.  Blacknal,  John  Peyton,  Captain  Thomas  Smith,  Kemp 
Whiting,  George  Dudley,  John  Armistead,  James  Ransom,  Robt.  Tabb, 
Wm.  Plummer,  Wm.  Armistead,  of  Hesse,  Edward  Hughes,  Francis 
Armistead,  John  Willis,  Gabriel  Hughes,  John  Billop,  Walter  Keeble, 
Edmund  Custis,  Edward  Tabb,  John  Dixon,  Thomas  Peyton,  Robert 
Mathews,  Dudley  Gary,  Mordecai  Throckmorton,  James  Booker,  Josiah 
Dean,  Thos.  Smith,  Jr.,  Samuel  Williams,  Joel  Foster,  Armistead  Smith, 
Robert  Gary,  Thomas  Tabb,  Richard  Gregory,  James  Bibber,  Sands  Smith, 
John  Gary,  Wilton  Glasscock. 

In  the  above  list  hundreds  scattered  through  Virginia  and  various 
parts  of  the  land  will  see  the  names  of  their  forefathers. 

The  remaining  history  of  Kingston  parish  is  very  brief.  The 
erection  of  a  church,  chiefly  through  the  zeal  of  Miss  Elizabeth 
Tompkins,  near  her  father's  house,  led  to  the  employment  of  a 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  327 

missionary  about  the  year  1841  or  1842.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Booker 
spent  some  time  between  the  two  counties  of  Mathews  and  Middlesex 
in  this  capacity.  He  was  followed  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Carraway,  who 
to  this  day  continues  to  perform  the  arduous  labours  required  by  so 
large  a  field.  Under  his  ministry  a  new  church  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  county  has  been  built  on  the  ruins  of  one  of  the  old 
ones. 


9 
328  OLD   CHUKCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 


ARTICLE  XXVIIL 

Gloucester  County,  Abington,  and  Ware. — No.  2. 

I  TAKE  these  together,  since  they  have  so  long  been  identified 
in  the  public  mind,  so  long  under  one  minister,  and  so  little  to  be 
said  of  them,  though  so  much  might  be  said,  had  we  any  ancient 
records.  The  following  letter  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Mann,  the  present 
rector,  forbids  the  hope  of  ever  recovering  what  is  lost  in  regard 
to  these  parishes : — 

"  MY  DEAR  BISHOP  : — Nothing  has  astonished  me  more  in  this  county 
than  the  utter  ignorance  of  the  people  as  to  the  early  history  of  the 
Church.  All  our  records  of  former  times  are  lost, — the  church  registers, 
with  the  county  records,  by  the  burning  of  the  court-house  many  years 
since.  The  late  Dr.  Taliafero  told  me  that  the  first  church  in  Ware  parish 
stood  on  Mr.  William  P.  Smith's  land,  where  there  is  an  old  graveyard, 
and  near  to  which  was  the  glebe.  The  parish  church  of  Ware  is  built  on 
land  granted  to  the  parish  by  the  Throckmorton  family, — the  female  an- 
cestors of  the  Taliaferos :  when  erected,  no  one  knows.  On  the  outside 
of  the  church  is  the  tombstone  of  the  Rev.  James  Black,  a  native 
of  England,  and  many  years  minister  of  Ware  parish.  He  died  in  1723. 
On  the  inside,  near  the  chancel,  are  the  tombstones  of  the  Rev.  John 
Richards  and  his  wife,  and  their  beloved  servant  Amy.  Mr.  Richards  was 
once  rector  of  Nettlehead,  and  vicar  of  Leston,  England,  and  died  rector 
of  Ware  in  1735.  Adjoining  these  is  a  stone  erected  by  the  Rev.  John 
Fox  over  his  wife,  who  died  in  1742,  and  two  of  his  children,  who  died 
in  1742  and  1743.  The  Rev.  James  Maury  Fontaine  was  once  minister 
of  this  parish  and  kept  a  school  near  it..*  The  Rev.  Mr.  Smith,  father  of 
Mr.  W.  P.  Smith  and  Colonel  Thomas  Smith,  and  of  the  first  Mrs.  Colonel 
Tompkins  and  the  first  Mrs.  Tom  Tabb,  held  the  church,  I  believe,  until 
his  death,  preaching  in  all  the  churches  of  this  county  and  Mathews. 
Then  came  a  long  vacancy,  and  with  it  the  desolation  and  destruction  of 
the  building,  which  continued  until  the  Rev.  Mr.  Games  took  charge  of 
it,  when  it  was  repaired  by  the  exertions  of  Colonel  Thomas  Smith,  Mr. 
Tom  Tabb,  Dr.  Taliafero,  and  others,  and  remained  as  they  left  it  until 
last  year,  (1854,)  when  a  new  roof  was  put  upon  it,  and  the  inside  altered 
and  improved.  A  few  hundred  dollars  will  render  it  a  handsome  as  it  is 
now  a  convenient  place  of  worship.  Dr.  Taliafero,  Jr.,  has  lately  placed 
the  old  subscription  in  my  hands  which  was  made  for  Mr.  Carnes,  and  I 

*  There  is  no  mention  of  this  minister  in  the  history  of  the  Maury  and  Fontaine 
families  by  Dr.  Hawks  and  Miss  Ann  Maury;  but  we  doubt  not  he  was  one 
of  them, — probably  the  son  of  Mr.  James  Fontaine,  one  of  the  five  brothers,  and 
who  settled  in  King  William. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  329 

find  very  much  the  same  names  of  families  now  attending  the  church. 
The  Corbins  and  some  others  have  removed  from  the  county.  The  first 
subscription  to  Mr.  Carnes  was  four  hundred  and  ten  dollars. 

"  Of  Abington  as  little  is  known  as  of  Ware.  The  first  church  stood 
near  the  present  building,  and  its  foundations  are  easily  traced.  It  seems 
originally  to  have  been  a  very  small  building  to  which  a  section  was  sub- 
sequently added.  Then  the  present  noble  building  was  erected.  On  the 
arch  of  the  door,  1765  has  been  cut,  but  whether  at  the  time  of  building 
no  one  can  say.  This  church  was  repaired  by  the  exertions  of  Colonel 
Lewis,  of  Eagle  Point,  the  present  residence  of  J.  K.  Bryan." 
> 

To  the  foregoing  information  as  to  the  earlier  ministers  of 
Abington  I  am  able  to  add  something  from  documents  in  pos- 
session. In  the  year  1724  the  Rev.  Thomas  Hughes  writes  to  the 
Bishop  of  London  "  that  he  has  been  living  in  this  parish  for  four 
or  five  years,  after  having  lived  in  the  upper  parish  of  Nansemond 
for  three  years ;  that  he  was  not  inducted, — only  four  ministers  in 
the  Colony  being  inducted;  that  he  has  three  hundred  families 
under  his  charge,  about  two  hundred  attendants  at  church,  sixty 
or  seventy  communicants,  no  surplice  used  in  the  parish,  as  is  the 
statement  in  many  other  reports,  a  free-school  endowed  with  five 
hundred  acres  of  land  and  servants ;  no  parochial  library  here  or 
in  any  other  parish  in  the  colony."  There  being  no  minister  in 
Ware  parish,  he  gives  a  portion  of  his  time  to  it. 

In  the  years  1754  and  1758  the  Rev.  William  Gates  was  minister 
of  Abington,  and  the  Rev.  John  Fox  of  Ware  parish.  In  the  years 
1773—4  and  1776  the  Rev.  Thomas  Price  was  minister  of  Abington, 
and  the  Rev.  James  M.  Fontaine  of  Ware.  In  the  year  1785 
neither  Abington  nor  Ware  was  represented  in  the  Convention  by 
the  clergy,  Mr.  John  Page  (Governor)  being  the  lay  delegate  from 
Abington,  Mr.  Thomas  Smith  from  Kingston,  and  Matthew  An- 
derson from  Petsworth.  Mr.  Page  attended  the  next  two  Conven- 
tions, and  Mr.  Anderson  one.  Mr.  Thomas  Lewis  also  attended 
from  Abington  in  1787.  After  this  we  find  no  more  delegates, 
either  clerical  or  lay,  from  Abington  until  long  after  the  revival 
of  the  Church  commenced.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Carnes  was  the  first 
minister  after  that  work  commenced.  He  continued  for  some 
years  in  zealous  prosecution  of  it,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev. 
John  Cole,  now  in  Culpepper,  who  was  followed  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Mann,  the  present  rector  of  the  parishes  of  Abington  and  Ware. 

In  the  absence  of  all  records  from  which  to  draw  the  names  of 
vestrymen,  and  thus  ascertain  who  have  been  the  leading  families, 
from  the  earliest  to  the  present  times,  in  the  parishes  of  Abington 
and  Ware,  we  furnish  the  following  imperfect  list  of  families 


330  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

known  to  us,  or  mentioned  to  us  by  one  who  is  better  acquainted 
with  the  history  of  the  old  settlers. 

Of  the  Burwells,  who  at  an  early  period  settled  at  Carter's 
Creek,  we  have  already  said  something  when  speaking  of  the 
family  at  King's  Mill  and  the  Grove,  in  York  and  James  City. 
To  this  we  add  the  Manns,  who  settled  at  Timberneck  Bay,  on 
York  River,  not  far  from  Shelly  and  Rosewell,  the  Montagues,  the 
Kempes,  the  Carys,  the  Tabbs,  the  Taliaferos,  the  Dabneys, 
Thrustons,  Catletts,  Throckmortons,  Roots,  Lewises,  Nicholsons, 
Nelsons,  Yanbibbers,  Pages,  of  Shelly  and  Rosewell,  Byrds,  Cor- 
bins,  Joneses,  Ennises,  Curtises,  Robinses,  Harewoods,  Dicksons, 
Roys,  and  Smarts. 

Of  old  Mrs.  Yanbibber  and  Dr.  Taliafero — two  of  the  props 
of  the  Church  in  the  day  of  her  adversity — I  need  not  speak  to 
the  present  generation  in  Gloucester,  as  there  are  still  some  living 
who  knew  their  religious  worth  and  continue  to  dwell  upon  the 
same  before  the  younger  ones.  Of  Mrs.  Yanbibber  some  interest- 
ing notices  appeared  many  years  since  in  one  of  our  religious 
papers.  Of  Dr.  Taliafero  I  may  say  from  personal  knowledge 
that  it  is  not  often  we  meet  with  a  more  pious  and  benevolent  man 
or  more  eminent  physician.  There  is  one  name  on  the  foregoing 
list  to  which  I  must  allude  as  having,  at  an  early  period  in  the 
history  of  Yirginia,  been  characterized  by  a  devotion  to  the  wel- 
fare of  the  Church  and  religion, — that  of  Kempe.  The  name  often 
occurs  on  the  vestry-book  of  Middlesex  county  in  such  a  way  as 
to  show  this.  The  high  esteem  in  which  one  of  the  family  was 
held,  is  seen  from  the  fact  that  he  was  the  Governor  of  the  Colony 
in  1644,  and  the  following  extract  from  the  first  volume  of  Hen- 
ning's  Statutes  will  show  not  only  the  religious  character  of  those 
in  authority  at  that  day,  but  the  probability  that  Governor  Kempe 
sympathized  in  the  movement,  for  the  Governors  had  great  power 
either  to  promote  or  prevent  such  a  measure.  In  1644  it  was 

"  Enacted  by  the  Governor,  Council,  and  Burgesses  of  this  Grand  As- 
sembly, for  God's  glory  and  the  public  benefit  of  the  Colony,  to  the  end 
that  God  might  avert  his  heavy  judgments  that  are  upon  us,  that  the  last 
Wednesday  in  every  month  be  set  apart  for  fast  and  humiliation,  and  that 
it  be  wholly  dedicated  to  prayers  and  preaching,  &c. 

"RICHARD  KEMPE,  Esq.,  Governor." 

I  do  not  remember  ever  to  have  seen  such  an  indefinite  and  pro- 
longed period  appropriated  by  a  public  body  to  public  humiliation. 
It  speaks  well  for  the  religion  of  our  public  functionaries  of  that 
day.  What  would  be  thought  of  such  a  measure  at  this  ? 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  331 

Of  Governor  Page  and  his  family  I  have  already  spoken  some- 
what in  treating  of  the  Church  in  Williamsburg,  where  the  first 
of  his  name  were  huried ;  but,  as  the  celebrated  Rosewell  and  its 
graveyard  full  of  tombs  with  that  name  are  in  Abington  parish,  I 
shall  add  something.  And  first  I  must  take  occasion  to  speak  of 
the  great  folly  of  erecting  such  immense  and  costly  houses  as  that 
of  Rosewell,  even  in  monarchical  and  aristocratic  days.  Richly- 
carved  mahogany  wainscothigs  and  capitals  and  stairways  abound, 
and  every  brick  was  English.  The  house  was  built,  or  rather 
begun  to  be  built,  by  Mr.  Mann  Page,  grandson  of  old  Sir  John 
Page,  who  wrote  the  good  book  to  his  son  Matthew,  father  of 
Mann.  I  am  sure  the  grandfather  would  not  have  approved  the 
act  of  his  grandson.  It  may  be  said  that,  as  his  mother  was  the 
rich  heiress  of  Timberneck  Bay,  he  had  a  right  to  do  it,  and  could 
afford  it,  as  he  was  the  first-born  son  and  chief  heir.  We  do  not 
admit  that  any  one  has  a  right  thus  to  misspend  the  talent  given 
to  him  by  God  to  be  used  for  his  glory,  and  God  often  punishes 
such  misconduct  by  sending  poverty  on  the  persons  thus  acting, 
and  on  their  posterity.  A  most  remarkable  exemplification  of  this 
appears  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Page,  who  began  to  build  Rosewell, 
and  which  was  finished  by  his  widow  and  son. 

Whoever  will  look  into  the  fifth  volume  and  at  the  277th  page 
of  Henning's  Statutes  will  see  an  Act  of  Assembly  covering  more 
than  seven  octavo  pages,  and  describing  all  the  property  in  lands 
and  servants  belonging  to  Mr.  Page,  and  the  former  of  which  his 
embarrassed  son,  Mann  Page,  Jr.,  petitioned  to  be  allowed  to  sell, 
in  order  to  pay  off  his  father's  debts  in  Virginia  and  England,  and 
which  all  his  real  estate,  though  he  had  many  servants  on  various 
estates,  was  incompetent  to  discharge.  His  landed  estates  were  in 
Prince  William,  Frederick,  Spottsylvania,  Essex,  James  City, 
Hanover,  Gloucester,  and  King  William.  He  had  eight  thousand 
.  acres  in  Frederick  called  Pageland,  more  than  ten  thousand  in 
Prince  William  called  Pageland  also,  four  thousand  five  hundred 
in  Spottsylvania,  one  thousand  called  Pampatike  in  King  William, 
two  thousand  in  Hanover,  near  two  thousand  in  James  City,  &c., 
besides  other  lands  not  mentioned.  Leave  is  asked  and  granted 
that  his  son  Mann  might  sell  them,  in  order  to  pay  off  the  debts 
which  had  been  for  many  years  accumulating  by  interest,  and 
which  the  real  estate  was  unable  to  discharge,  and  in  order  to  pay 
the  portions  of  his  brothers  and  sisters.  For  a  long  time  had  he 
been  labouring  from  the  proceeds  of  the  estates  to  do  this,  but  in 
vain.  Now,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  tradition  is  correct  that 


332  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

much  if  not  all  of  the  original  debt  was  contracted  for  the  erection 
of  this  immense  pile  of  building,  every  brick  of  which,  and  doubt- 
less much  other  material,  together  with  the  workmen,  were  imported 
from  England  and  not  paid  for,  except  by  his  agents  and  friends 
there,  until  the  sale  of  these  lands  in  Virginia  enabled  his  son,  long 
after,  to  do  it.  The  whole  of  the  roof  of  this  ancient  building  was 
covered  with  heavy  lead  over  the  shingles.  The  result  of  this  im- 
mense expenditure  was  not  only  the  entailing  a  heavy  debt  upon 
his  estate,  and  the  causing  a  sale  of  lands  which  might  have  fur- 
nished his  posterity  for  some  generations  with  farms,  but  the  keep- 
ing up  such  an  establishment  has  been  a  burden  on  all  who  have 
possessed  it  to  the  present  day,  as  must  be  the  case  with  all  such 
establishments.  For  a  long  time  old  Rosewell  has  been  standing 
on  Carter's  Creek,  in  sight  of  York  River,  like  an  old  deserted  Eng- 
lish castle,  in  solitary  grandeur,  scarce  a  tree  or  shrub  around  it 
to  vary  and  beautify  the  scene.  No  one  of  the  name  of  him  who  built 
it  has  owned  it  or  could  afford  to  own  it  for  generations.  "  Some 
stranger  fills  the  Stuarts'  throne."  "Sic  transit  gloria  mundi!" 

Would  that  this  were  the  only  folly  of  the  kind  in  ancient  or 
modern  Virginia !  The  Acts  of  Assembly  give  us  other  instances 
in  old  Virginia.  Mr.  Lewis  Burwell,  of  King's  Mill,  near  Wil- 
liamsburg,  built  a  large  house  worthy  of  his  first-born  son  to  live 
in ;  and  that  first-born  son,  after  his  father's  death,  was  obliged  to 
petition  the  Legislature  for  leave  to  break  the  entail  and  sell  a 
large  tract  of  land  in  King  William  to  pay  for  it.  The  folly  is  still 
going  on  in  many  parts  of  our  land ;  the  greater  folly  now,  because 
the  law  of  primogeniture  being  happily  abolished,  and  different  and 
better  views  prevailing  as  to  the  division  of  estates  among  children, 
the  proud  homestead  must  be  sold  or  be  an  expense  and  burden  to  the 
child  who  inherits  it.  Even  in  England — the  land  of  entails  and 
primogeniture — the  philanthropic  Howard,  a  man  of  birth  and 
inherited  wealth,  instead  of  listening  to  the  plea  that  our  houses 
must  be  proportioned  to  our  wealth,  to  the  extent  even  of  palaces, 
and  that  it  was  a  charity  to  the  poor  to  employ  numbers  of  them 
in  the  erection  of  stupendous  and  costly  mansions,  built  one  of 
more  moderate  size  and  expense  for  himself,  and  employed  greater 
numbers  of  workmen  in  rearing  neat  and  comfortable  cottages  for 
the  poor  on  his  large  and  numerous  estates.  How  much  of  that 
now  needlessly  expended  in  building  and  furnishing  large  houses 
might  be  more  rationally  and  charitably  devoted  to  the  improve- 
ment of  the  dwellings  of  the  labourers,  whether  on  the  plantations 
of  the  South  or  the  neighbourhoods  of  the  North ! 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  333 

How  much  wiser  was  it  in  the  first  William  Randolph,  of  Turkey 
Island,  to  live  in  a  house  of  moderate  dimensions  himself,  though 
with  every  comfort,  and  to  build  during  his  lifetime  good  houses 
for  his  numerous  children  in  various  parts  of  the  State !  How 
much  more  becoming  Christians,  instead  of  building  extravagant 
mansions  for  themselves,  to  see  that  the  houses  of  worship  are 
comely  and  comfortable,  and  that  all  God's  ministers  are  well  pro- 
vided with  houses  becoming  their  station  and  the  means  of  living 
in  them ! 

To  return  from  this  digression,  let  me  say  that  Governor  Page, 
though  living  in  this  proud  mansion  of  his  forefathers,  was  not  him- 
self a  proud  man.  He  was  not  only  a  true  republican  in  politics,  but 
an  humble  man  in  his  religion,  and  doubtless  often  wished  himself, 
on  more  accounts  than  one,  well  rid  of  his  large  abode.  The  poor, 
I  doubt  not,  were  often  kindly  treated  at  Rosewell,  and  the  ser- 
vants justly  dealt  with.  There  was  once  a  picture — among  many 
others  of  higher  degree — on  the  walls  of  Rosewell  parlour,  which 
shows  that  he  was  not  too  proud  to  allow  the  head  of  a  poor 
African  to  be  there.  It  was  the  head  of  Selim,  an  Algerine  negro, 
well  known  at  Rosewell,  York,  and  Williamsburg,  which  Mr.  Page 
had  taken  while  he  was  a  member  of  Congress  in  Philadelphia,  and 
hung  up  among  his  portraits.  There  was  something  so  touching  and 
very  remarkable  in  the  captivity,  conversion,  and  latter  end  of 
Selim,  that  the  Rev.  John  H.  Rice,  a  Presbyterian  minister  of  high 
standing,  wrote  an  account  of  him,  which  was  published  in  a  Pres- 
byterian magazine,  I  think.  It  is  so  interesting  and  so  edifying  in 
a  religious  point  of  view  that  I  shall  insert  it  in  these  sketches; 
and  I  am  the  more  induced  so  to  do  because  I  am  able  to  add  some 
particulars  not  contained  in  Mr.  Rice's  notice. 

Before  I  introduce  this,  however,  (reserving  it  for  another 
article,)  I  will  add  that  Mr.  Page  was  not  only  the  patriot,  soldier 
and  politician,  the  well-read  theologian  and  zealous  Churchman, — 
so  that,  as  I  have  said  before,  some  wished  him  to  take  Orders  with 
a  view  to  being  the  first  Bishop  of  Virginia, — but  he  was  a  most 
affectionate  domestic  character.  His  tenderness  as  a  father  and 
attention  to  his  children  is  seen  in  the  fact  that,  when  attending  a 
Congress  held  in  New  York,  he  was  continually  writing  very  short 
letters  to  his  little  ones,  even  before  they  could  read  them.  I  have 
a  bundle  of  them,  from  which  I  extract  the  following : — 

"NEW  YORK,  March  16th,  1789. 

"MY  DEAR  BOBBY  : — My  letters  to  your  brother  Mann  and  your  sisters 
will  inform  you  how  and  when  I  arrived  here.  I  will  tell  you  then  what 


9 
334  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  AND 

I  have  not  told  them,  and  what  you,  a  young  traveller,  ought  to  know. 
This  town  is  not  half  so  large  as  Philadelphia,  nor  in  any  manner  to  be 
compared  to  it  for  beauty  and  elegance.  Philadelphia,  I  am  well  assured, 
has  more  inhabitants  than  Boston  and  New  York  together.  The  streets 
here  are  badly  paved,  very  dirty,  and  narrow  as  well  as  crooked,  and  filled 
up  with  a  strange  variety  of  wooden,  stone,  and  brick  buildings,  and  full 
of  hogs  and  mud.  The  College,  St.  Paul's  Church,  and  the  Hospital  are 
elegant  buildings.  The  Federal  Hall  also,  in  which  Congress  is  to  sit,  is 
elegant.  What  is  very  remarkable  here  is,  that  there  is  but  one  well  of 
water  which  furnishes  the  inhabitants  with  drink,  so  that  water  is  bought 
here  by  every  one  that  drinks  it,  except  the  owner  of  this  well.  Four 
carts  are  continually  going  about  selling  it  at  three  gallons  for  a  copper; 
that  is,  a  penny  for  every  three  gallons  of  water.  The  other  wells  and 
pumps  serve  for  washing,  and  nothing  else.*  I  have  not  time  to  say  more 
about  this  place  and  the  other  towns  through  which  I  passed,  but  will  by 
some  other  opportunity  write  you  whatever  may  be  worth  your  knowing. 
You  must  show  this  to  Frank.  Give  my  love  to  him,  and  tell  him  I  will 
write  to  him  and  Judy  next.  Kiss  her  for  me,  and  be  a  good  boy,  my 
dear.  Give  my  love  to  your  brothers  and  sisters  and  to  your  cousin  Mat 
and  Nat.  Tell  Beck  [a  maid-servant]  that  Sharp  [the  servant  that  went 
with  him]  is  well,  and  sends  his  love  to  her,  [his  wife,  I  suppose.]  That 
God  Almighty  may  bless  you  all,  my  dear,  is  the  fervent  prayer  of  your 
affectionate  father,  JOHN  PAGE." 

These  letters  were  written  on  very  coarse,  stiff,  dingy  paper, 
such  as  no  country-merchant  would  use  in  wrapping  any  but  his 
heaviest  and  roughest  goods  in  at  this  day.  Some  of  them  were 
sent  by  the  two  Randolphs, — John  and  Theodoric, — who  were  going 
to  school  in  New  York  at  that  time.f 


*  In  another  letter  he  says  that  he  was  mistaken — that  there  were  several  good 
wells. 

f  Mr.  Page,  of  Rosewell,  was  twice  married.  First  to  Miss  Frances  Burwell,  of 
the  Isle  of  Wight,  and  next  to  Miss  Louther,  of  New  York,  whom  he  met  with 
while  in  Congress,  which  sat  in  that  place.  I  have  before  me  the  funeral  sermon 
preached  on  the  occasion  of  the  death  of  the  former  by  the  Rev.  James  Maury 
Fontaine,  minister  of  Petsoe  parish,  and  for  some  time  of  Ware  parish,  Gloucester. 
I  quote  a  few  passages  from  it,  not  only  to  show  the  character  of  Mrs.  Page,  but 
also  the  theology  of  Mr.  Fontaine: — 

"The  voice  of  all  proclaim  aloud  her  praise.  It  was  Mrs.  Page's  peculiar  felicity 
to  have  no  enemies.  This  is  only  to  be  accounted  for  by  her  having  no  competitions 
with  the  world  but  that  laudable  one,who  should  outdo  in  kindness  and  good  offices. 
A  contest  of  this  kind  always  leaves  the  victor  as  amiable  as  triumphant.  To  be 
more  particular:  she  was  a  faithful  member  of  our  Church.  Hor  piety  was  exem- 
plary. Her  charity  was  universal.  Her  patience  and  fortitude  in  travelling  the 
painful  and  gloomy  road  to  dissolution  were  uncommonly  great.  She  was  a  fair 
pattern  of  conjugal  perfection.  A  better  wife  never  died.  She  was  a  complete 
example  to  mothers.  Sensible  of  the  great  blessing  of  early  instruction,  she 
laboured  gradually  and  pleasingly  to  infuse  into  the  tender  minds  of  her  offspring 
suitable  portions  of  knowledge  and  virtue,  and,  knowing  the  force  of  good  example, 
she  did  wbat  she  would  have  her  children  practise,  and  was  what  she  wished  them 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  335 


GLOUCESTER,  THE   RESIDENCE   OF  POWHATAN  AND   POCAHONTAS. 

We  are  now  in  the  region  where  by  general  consent  the  chief 
residence  of  King  Powhatan  has  been  placed,  after  discussion  and 
accurate  investigation.  Mr.  Howe,  in  his  laborious  though  some- 
times inaccurate  History  of  Virginia,  quotes  from  Captain  John 
Smith  as  saying  that'"  twenty-five  miles  lower  (than  what  is  now  West 
Point,  the  junction  of  the  Pamunkey  and  Mattapony)  on  the  north 
side  of  this  river  (York  River)  is  Werowocomico,  where  their  great 
king  inhabited  when  I  was  delivered  to  him  a  prisoner,"  and  where 
Smith  in  another  place  says  "for  the  most  part  he  was  resident." 
Mr.  Howe  says,  "Upon  a  short  visit  made  to  that  part  of  Glou- 
cester county  a  year  or  two  ago,  I  was  satisfied  that  Shelly,  the 


to  be.  She  was  an  amiable  pattern  for  mistresses ;  a  fast,  valuable  friend,  and 
emphatically  a  good  neighbour ;  in  fine,  a  pattern  to  her  sex  and  an  ornament  to 
human  nature." 

Although  we  could  wish  to  have  seen  more  of  the  Gospel  throughout  the  sermon, 
yet  at  the  close  there  is  a  recognition  of  it  which  shows  that  he  understood  and,  we 
hope,  practised  it.  In  exhorting  the  bereaved  members  of  the  family  to  a  proper 
resignation,  he  says,  "Others  have  been  as  deeply  afflicted  as  you.  Jesus,  the 
Captain  of  our  salvation,  was  made  perfect  through  sufferings.  He  knows  how  to 
pity  you.  And  his  sorrows  have  sufficient  efficacy  in  them  to  convert  yours  into 
real  blessings.  Let  patience  have  her  perfect  work.  Still  confide  in  the  power, 
goodness,  and  faithfulness  of  God.  Still  rely  on  the  mediation,  advocacy,  and  grace 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And  still  expect  those  aids  and  support  from  the  blessed 
Spirit  which  you  may  yet  need." 

The  effects  of  paternal  as  well  as  maternal  examples  have  been  seen  in  the  nu- 
merous descendants  of  Mr.  Page  who  have  embraced  the  religion  and  loved  the 
Church  of  their  fathers,  instead  of  abjuring  the  former  and  deserting  the  latter,  as 
too  many  of  that  day  did.  Of  one  of  them  I  may  be  permitted  to  speak  a  special 
word.  She  inherited  her  mother's  name  as  well  as  her  virtues.  I  mean  the  late 
Mrs.  Frances  Berkeley,  of  Hanover.  Her  first  husband  was  Mr.  Thomas  Nelson, 
of  York,  son  of  General  Nelson,  by  whom  she  had  a  daughter  who  was  dearer  to 
me  than  life  itself.  They  owned  and  for  a  time  lived  at  Old  Temple  Farm,  the  an- 
cient seat  of  General  Spottswood,  the  head-quarters  of  Washington  during  the  siege 
of  York,  and  the  place  where  Cornwallis  signed  his  capitulation.  After  the  death 
of  Mr.  Nelson  his  widow  married  Dr.  Carter  Berkeley,  of  Hanover.  Each  of  them 
contributed  a  number  of  children  by  their  first  marriage  to  the  joint  family  at 
Edgewood,  and  others  were  born  to  them  afterward.  Instead  of  discord  and 
Strife,  a  threefold  cord  of  love  was  formed,  seldom  to  be  seen.  Mrs.  Berkeley  was 
added  to  the  number  of  those  excellent  ones  belonging  to  the  much-abused  family 
of  step-mothers,  who  knew  no  difference  between  her  own  and  adopted  children, 
while  all  regarded  her  equally  as  their  own  mother  and  each  other  as  children  of 
the  same  parents.  She  was  in  mind  and  person  and  character  one  of  "nature's 
nobles,"  sanctified  by  divine  grace  to  be  among  the  finest  specimens  of  renewed 
humanity.  Less  than  this  I  could  not  say  of  one  who  was  to  me  as  a  mother. 


336  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  AND 

seat  of  Mrs.  Mann  Pa%e,  is  the  famous  Werowocomico.  Shelly 
adjoins  Bosewell,  formerly  the  seat  of  John  Page,  (sometime  Go- 
vernor of  Virginia),  and  was  originally  part  of  the  Rosewell  plan- 
tation ;  and  I  learned  from  Mrs.  Page,  of  Shelly,  that  Governor 
Page  always  held  Shelly  to  be  the  ancient  Werowocomico,  and  ac- 
cordingly he  at  first  gave  it  that  name,  but  afterward,  on  account 
of  the  inconvenient  length  of  the  word,  dropped  it  and  adopted 
the  title  of  Shelly,  on  account  of  the  extraordinary  accumulation 
of  shells  found  there.  The  enormous  beds  of  oyster-shells  de- 
posited there,  especially  in  front  of  the  Shelly  House,  indicate  it 
to  have  been  a  place  of  great  resort  among  the  natives.  The 
situation  is  highly  picturesque  and  beautiful;  and,  looking  as  it 
does  on  the  lovely  and  majestic  York,  it  would  seem  of  all  others 
to  have  been  the  befitting  residence  of  the  lordly  Powhatan." 

Our  worthy  fellow-citizen,  Mr.  Charles  Campbell,  of  Petersburg, 
after  having  adopted  the  above  opinion,  has  renounced  it  in  favour 
of  another  place  only  two  or  three  miles,  I  believe,  lower  down 
York  River.     On  paying  a  visit  a  few  years  since  to  Shelly  and 
the  neighbourhood,  for  the  purpose  of  examining  the  question,  he 
became  satisfied  that  Timberneck  Bay,  in  Gloucester,  the  ancient 
seat  of  the  Manns,  only  a  mile  from  Shelly,  is  the  famous  spot. 
Smith,  he  says,  in  his  work  "Newes  from  Virginia,"  says  "the  bay 
where  Powhatan  dwelleth  hath  three   creeks  in   it."     "I   have 
visited,"  says  Mr.  Campbell,   "that  part  of   Gloucester  county, 
and  am  satisfied  that  Timberneck  Bay  is  the  one  referred  to  by 
Mr.  Smith.     On  the  east  bank  of  this  bay  stands  an  old  chimney 
known  as  'Powhatan's  chimney,'  and  its  site  corresponds  with  We- 
rowocomico as  laid  down  in  Smith's  map."     Mr.  Campbell  sup- 
poses this  to  be  the  chimney  of  the  house  built  by  the  Colonists  to 
propitiate  the  favour  of  Powhatan,  and  says  he  is  supported  by 
tradition.     May  not  the  two  opinions  be  reconciled  in  the  follow- 
ing manner?     Shelly  may  have  been  the  original  place  of  his  resi- 
dence or  of  his  frequent  residence ;  but  when  it  was  offered  to  build 
him  a  house  after  the  English  fashion,  he  may  have  preferred  a 
situation  a  few  miles  off,   for  reasons  best  known  to  his  royal 
majesty.     And  now,  although  I  have    already  introduced  some 
documents  touching  Powhatan  and  Pocahontas  into  my  article  on 
Jamestown  and  Henrico,  yet,  as  there  is  another  most  worthy  of 
preservation  and  use,  I  will  do  my  part  toward  its  perpetuity  by 
inserting  it  in  this  place.     It  is  the  famous  letter  of  Captain  Smith 
to  Queen  Anne,  soliciting  her  attention  to  Pocahontas  when  in 
England, — a  letter  not  easily  surpassed  by  any  one  in  any  age. 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  337 

"To  the  Most  High  and  Virtuous  Princess,  Queen  Anne, 
of  Great  Britain  :* 

"  MOST  ADMIRED  MADAM  : — The  love  I  bear  my  God,  my  King,  and 
my  Church.,  hath  so  often  emboldened  me  in  the  worst  of  extreme  dan- 
gers, that  now  honesty  doth  constrain  me  to  presume  thus  far  beyond  my- 
self, to  present  to  your  Majesty  this  short  discourse.  If  ingratitude  be  a 
deadly  poison  to  all  honest  virtues,  I  must  be  guilty  of  that  crime  if  I 
should  omit  any  means  to  be  thankful.  So  it  was,  that  about  ten  years  ago, 
being  in  Virginia,  and  being  taken  prisoner  by  the  power  of  Powhatan, 
their  chief  king,  I  received  from  this  great  savage  exceeding  great  cour- 
tesy,— especially  from  his  son,  Nantiquaus,  the  manliest,  comeliest,  boldest 
spirit  I  ever  saw  in  a  savage,  and  his  sister  Pocahontas,  the  king's  most 
dear  and  beloved  daughter,  being  but  a  child  of  twelve  or  thirteen  years 
of  age,  whose  compassionate,  pitiful  heart  of  my  desperate  estate  gave  me 
much  cause  to  respect  her.  I  being  the  first  Christian  this  proud  king 
and  his  grim  attendants  ever  saw,  and  thus  enthralled  in  their  power,  I 
cannot  say  I  felt  the  least  occasion  of  want  that  was  in  the  power  of  those, 
my  mortal  foes,  to  prevent,  notwithstanding  all  their  threats.  After  some 
six  weeks'  fattening  among  these  savage  courtiers,  at  the  minute  of  my 
execution  she  hazarded  the  beating  out  of  her  own  brains  to  save  mine ; 
and  not  only  that,  but  so  prevailed  with  her  father  that  I  was  safely  con- 
ducted to  Jamestown,  where  I  found  about  eight-and-thirty  miserable, 
poor,  and  sick  creatures  to  keep  possession  of  all  those  large  territories  in 
Virginia.  Such  was  the  weakness  of  this  poor  Commonwealth,  as  had  not 
the  savages  fed  us,  we  directly  had  starved.  And  this  relief,  most  gra- 
cious Queen,  was  commonly  brought  us  by  the  Lady  Pocahontas. 

"Notwithstanding  all  those  passages,  when  inconstant  fortune  turned 
our  peace  to  war,  this  tender  virgin  would  still  not  spare  to  dare  to  visit 
us ;  and  by  her  our  fears  have  been  often  appeased  and  our  wants  still 
supplied.  Were  it  the  policy  of  her  father  thus  to  employ  her,  or  the 
ordinance  of  God  thus  to  make  her  his  instrument,  or  her  extraordinary 
affection  to  our  nation,  I  know  not.  But  of  this  I  am  sure ;  when  her 
father,  with  the  utmost  of  his  policy  and  power,  sought  to  surprise  me, 
having  but  eighteen  with  me,  the  dark  night  could  not  affright  her  from, 
coming  through  the  irksome  woods,  and,  with  watered  eyes,  gave  me  in- 
telligence with  her  best  advice  to  escape  his  fury,  which  had  he  seen,  he 
had  surely  slain  her. 

"  Jamestown,  with  her  wild  train,  she  as  freely  visited  as  her  father's 
habitation ;  and  during  the  time  of  two  or  three  years,  she,  next  under 
God,  was  still  the  instrument  to  preserve  this  Colony  from  death,  famine, 
and  utter  confusion,  which  in  those  times  had  once  been  dissolved,  Vir- 
ginia might  have  lain  as  it  was  at  our  first  arrival  till  this  day.  Since 
then  this  business,  having  been  turned  and  varied  by  many  accidents  from 
what  I  left  it,  is  most  certain ;  after  a  long  and  troublesome  war,  since  my 
departure,  betwixt  her  father  and  our  Colony,  all  which  time  she  was  not 
heard  of.  About  two  years  after,  she  herself  was  taken  prisoner,  being  so 
detained  near  two  years  longer  ]  the  Colony  by  that  means  was  relieved, 
peace  concluded,  and  at  last,  rejecting  her  barbarous  condition,  she  was 
married  to  an  English  gentleman,  the  first  Virginian  who  ever  spake  Eng- 


*  King  James's  wife  was  named  Anne. 
22 


338  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

lish,  or  had  a  child  in  marriage  by  an  Englishman,— a  matter  surely,  if 
my  meaning  be  truly  considered  and  well  understood,  well  worthy  a 
prince's  information.  Thus,  most  gracious  lady,  I  have  related  to  your 
Majesty  what,  at  your  best  leisure,  our  approved  histories  will  recount  to 
you  at  large,  as  done  in  your  Majesty's  life.  And,  however  this  might  be 
presented  you  from  a  more  worthy  pen,  it  cannot  from  a  more  honest 
heart. 

"As  yet,  I  never  begged  any  thing  of  the  State;  and  it  is  my  want  of 
ability  and  her  exceeding  deserts,  your  birth,  means,  and  authority,  her 
birth,  virtue,  want,  and  simplicity,  doth  make  me  thus  bold  humbly  to  be- 
seech your  Majesty  to  take  this  knowledge  of  her,  though  it  be  from  one  so 
unworthy  to  be  the  reporter  as  myself,  her  husband's  estate  not  being  able 
to  make  her  fit  to  attend  your  Majesty.  The  most  and  least  I  can  do  is  to 
tell  you  this,  and  the  rather  of  her  being  of  so  great  a  spirit,  however  her 
stature.  If  she  should  not  be  well  received,  seeing  this  kingdom  may  rightly 
have  a  kingdom  by  her  means,  her  present  love  to  us  and  Christianity  might 
turn  to  such  scorn  and  fury  as  to  divert  all  this  good  to  the  worst  of  evil ; 
when,  finding  that  so  great  a  Queen  should  do  her  more  honour  than  she 
imagines,  for  having  been  kind  to  her  subjects  and  servants,  would  so 
ravish  her  with  content  as  to  endear  her  dearest  blood  to  effect  that  your 
Majesty  and  all  the  King's  most  honest  subjects  most  earnestly  desire. 
And  so  I  humbly  kiss  your  gracious  hands,  &c. 

"  Signed,  JOHN  SMITH." 

Since  the  above  was  in  print,  we  have  received  the  following 
extract  from  one  of  our  public  papers  : — 

11  POCAHONTAS. — An  interesting  link  in  the  chain  of  American  Docu- 
mentary History  has  just  been  given  by  the  rector  of  Gravesend,  in  Kent, 
to  the  Rev.  R.  Anderson,  for  his  '  Colonial  Church  History/  It  is  the 
fac-simile  copy  of  the  entry  of  the  death  of  Pocahontas,  in  the  register 
of  that  parish,  where  she  died  three  years  after  her  marriage,  when  on 
the  point  of  embarking  to  return  to  her  native  land  with  her  husband, 
who  was  appointed  Secretary  and  Recorder-General  for  Virginia.  It  runs 
thus  :— <  1616,  March  21.  Rebecca  Rolfe,  wyffe  of  Thomas  Rolfe,  gent., 
a  Virginia  lady  borne,  was  buried  in  y8  Chauncell/  The  present  church 
at  Gravesend  is  an  erection  later  than  the  date  of  this  entry ;  so  that,  in 
all  probability,  it  is  the  only  tangible  relic  of  the  last  resting-place  of 
one  called  by  our  forefathers  'the  first-fruit  of  the  Gospel  in  America/  of 
whom  Sir  Thomas  Dale  (Marshal  of  Virginia)  wrote,  'were  it  but  the 
gaining  of  this  one  soule,  I  think  my  time,  toile,  and  present  stay  well 
spent.'  Poor  Pocahontas !  who  shall  say  what  emotions  passed  through 
her  mind,  when,  strong  in  affectionate  confidence,  she  accompanied  her 
husband  from  the  pleasant  savannas  of  Virginia,  which  she  was  never  to 
see  again,  to  the  Court  of  England,  and  still  (in  the  words  of  Purchas) 
'did  not  onely  accustom  herselfe  to  civilitie,  but  carried  herselfe  as  the 
daughter  of  a  king.'  Every  trait  preserved  of  her  in  the  records  of  the 
time  testifies  to  her  'increasing  in  goodness  as  the  knowledge  of  God  in- 
creased in  her/  Her  true  story  is  one  that  can  never  become  hackneyed 
even  with  familiarity,  and  should  be  religiously  kept  free  from  burlesque 
association." 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  339 


GRAVEYARDS   IN   GLOUCESTER    COUNTY. 

There  are  three  graveyards  of  some  note  near  to  each  other : — 
that  at  Rosewell,  where  the  Pages  are  buried  ;  at  Timberneck  Bay, 
where  the  Manns  are  buried;  and  at  Carter's  Creek,  where  the 
Burwells  alone  are  buried.  Many  inscriptions  upon  the  old  tomb- 
stones have  been  furnished  me. 

The  first  of  the  Pages  was  John  Page,  usually  called  Sir  John, 
of  Williamsburg,  who  wrote  the  good  book  to  his  son  Matthew. 
His  son  Matthew  married  Mary  Mann,  of  Timberneck  Bay,  a  rich 
heiress,  and  bequeathed  an  immense  estate  to  his  son  Mann,  who 
built  Rosewell.  His  son  Mann,  Jr.  married,  first,  Judith  Wormley, 
who  had  only  one  child  who  lived ;  and  she  married  Thomas  Mann 
Randolph,  of  Tuckahoe.  Mr.  Page's  second  wife  was  Judith  Carter, 
daughter  of  Robert  Carter,  of  Corotoman,  commonly  called  King 
Carter.  By  this  marriage  he  had  Mann  Page,  of  Rosewell,  John 
Page,  of  North  End,  Gloucester,  and  Robert  Page,  of  Broadneck, 
Hanover.  The  first  of  these  three  married  Alice  Grymes,  of  Mid- 
dlesex, by  whom  he  had  two  children, — John  Page,  of  Rosewell, 
alias  Governor  Page,  and  Judith,  who  married  Lewis  Burwell,  of 
Carter's  Creek.  At  the  death  of  his  first  wife,  Alice  Grymes, 
Mann  Page  married  Miss  Ann  Corbin  Tayloe,  sister  of  the  first 
Colonel  Tayloe,  of  Mount  Airy,  by  whom  he  had  Mann  Page,  of 
Mansfield,  near  Fredericksburg,  who  married  his  cousin,  sister  of 
the  late  Colonel  Tayloe,  of  Mount  Airy  ;  Robert  Page,  of  Hano- 
ver Town,  who  married  a  daughter  of  Charles  Carter,  of  Frede- 
ricksburg ;  Gwinn  Page,  who  married  first  in  Prince  William  and 
then  in  Kentucky ;  Matthew  Page,  of  Hanover  Town,  who  died 
unmarried;  Betsey  Page,  who  married  Mr.  Benjamin  Harrison,  of 
Brandon  ;  Lucy  Page,  who  married  first  Colonel  George  Baylor, 
and  then  Colonel  Nathaniel  Burwell. 

The  second  son  of  Mann  Page  and  Judith  Carter — John  Page, 
of  North  End — married  Jane  Byrd,  of  Westover,  whose  son  Mann 
married  Miss  Selden,  and  was  the  father  of  William  Byrd  Page,  of 
Frederick,  who  married  Miss  Lee,  and  was  the  father  of  the  Rev. 
Charles  Page,  and  many  others. 

John  Page,  second  son  of  John,  of  North  End,  married  Miss 
Betty  Burwell,  and  had  several  children.  Their  daughter  Jane 
married  Mr.  Edmund  Pendleton.  William,  third  son  of  John,  of 
North  End,  married  Miss  Jones,  and  had  three  children, — Jane, 
Byrd,  and  Carter.  Carter  Page,  of  Cumberland,  fourth  son  of 


I 

340  OLD    CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,   AND 

John,  of  North  End,  married,  first,  Polly,  daughter  of  Archibald 
Gary,  then  Lucy,  daughter  of  General  Nelson,  of  York.  Robert 
Page,  of  Janeville,  Frederick  county,  married  his  cousin  Sarah, 
of  Broadneck.  The  sixth  son  was  Matthew,  who  died  unmarried. 
The  seventh,  Tom,  who  married  Mildred,  daughter  of  Edmund 
Pendleton,  of  White  Plains.  The  eighth,  Judith,  who  married 
Colonel  Hugh  Nelson,  of  York.  The  ninth,  Molly,  who  married 
Mr.  John  Byrd,  and  had  no  children.  The  tenth,  Jane,  who  mar- 
ried Nathaniel  Nelson,  and  was  the  mother  of  Mrs.  Nathaniel  Bur- 
well,  of  Saratoga.  The  eleventh,  Lucy,  who  married  Mr.  Frank 
Nelson,  of  Hanover.  The  above  eleven  were  all  the  children  of 
Mr.  John  Page,  of  North  End,  second  son  of  Mann  and  Judith 
Page,  of  Rosewell.  Their  third  son  was  Robert,  of  Broadneck, 
Hanover  county,  who  married  Miss  Sarah  Walker.  Their  chil- 
dren were,  first,  Robert,  who  married  a  Miss  Braxton,  and  was  the 
father  of  Carter  B.  Page,  John  White  Page,  Walker  Page,  and 
three  sisters.  Second,  John,  of  Page  Brook,  who  married  Miss 
Byrd,  of  Westover,  and  left  many  children.  Third,  Matthew 
Page,  of  Annfield,  who  married  Miss  Ann  R.  Meade,  and  left  two 
daughters.  Fourth,  Catharine,  who  married  Benjamin  Waller,  of 
Williamsburg.  Fifth,  Judith,  who  married  Mr.  John  Waller. 
Sixth,  Sarah,  who  married  Mr.  Robert  Page,  of  Janeville. 


OLD     S  E  L  I  M. 


FAMILIES   OP  VIRGINIA.  341 


ARTICLE  XXIX. 

Gloucester. — No.  3.     History  of  Selim,  the  Algerine  Convert. 

THE  following  article  was  written  by  the  Rev.  Benjamin  H.  Rice. 
The  addition  is  from  a  descendant  of  Mr.  Page,  of  Rosewell : — 

THE   CONVERTED  ALGERINE. 

The  following  narrative  was  committed  to  writing  by  an  aged 
clergyman  in  Virginia,  and  is  communicated  for  publication  by  a 
missionary  of  known  character.  Its  authenticity  may  be  relied  on. 
It  is  introduced  by  the  writer  with  the  following  paragraphs : — 

I  have  long  been  of  opinion  that  even  the  short  account  I  am  able 
to  give  of  Selim,  the  Algerine,  is  worth  preserving,  and  suppose  that 
no  person  now  living  is  able  to  give  so  full  an  account  of  him  as 
myself,  not  having  the  same  means  of  information. 

Had  Selim  ever  recovered  his  reason  so  far  as  to  be  able  to 
write  his  own  history  and  give  an  account  of  all  the  tender  and 
interesting  circumstances  of  his  story,  it  would  undoubtedly  have 
been  one  of  the  most  moving  narratives  to  be  met  with.  All  I 
can  write  is  the  substance  of  the  story  as  related  to  me,  most  of 
it  many  years  ago.  I  have  been  careful  to  relate  every  par- 
ticular circumstance  I  could  recollect  worthy  of  notice,  and  make 
no  additions  and  very  few  reflections  of  my  own.  I  publish 
these  narratives  at  this  time  for  the  sake  of  a  few  observations 
which  they  naturally  suggest,  and  which  I  think  seasonable  at  the 
present  day. 

About  the  close  of  the  war  between  France  and  England  in 
Virginia,  commonly  called  Braddock's  War,  a  certain  man,  whose 
name,  as  I  have  been  informed,  was  Samuel  Givins,  then  an  inha- 
bitant of  Augusta  county,  in  Virginia,  went  into  the  woods  back  of 
the  settlements  to  hunt  wild  meat  for  the  support  of  his  family, — 
a  practice  which  necessity  renders  customary  for  the  settlers  of  a 
new  country.  He  took  more  than  one  horse  with  him,  that  it 
might  be  in  his  power  to  bring  home  his  meat  and  skins.  As  he 
was  one  day  ranging  the  woods  in  quest  of  game,  he  cast  his  eyes 
into  the  top  of  a  large  fallen  tree,  where  he  saw  a  living  creature 


$ 

342  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

move.  Supposing  it  to  be  some  kind  of  a  wild  beast,  he  made 
ready  to  shoot  it,  but  had  no  sooner  obtained  a  distinct  view  than 
he  discovered  a  human  shape,  which  prevented  the  fatal  discharge. 
Going  to  the  place,  he  found  a  man  in  a  most  wretched  and  pitiable 
condition, — his  person  entirely  naked  (except  a  few  rags  tied  about 
his  feet)  and  almost  covered  over  with  scabs,  quite  emaciated  and 
nearly  famished  to  death.  The  man  was  unacquainted  with  the  Eng- 
lish language,  and  Givins  knew  no  other.  No  information,  there- 
fore, could  be  obtained  who  he  was,  whence  he  came,  or  how  he  was 
brought  into  a  state  so  truly  distressing.  Givins,  however,  with 
the  kindness  of  the  good  Samaritan,  took  a  tender  care  of  him, 
and  supplied  his  emaciated  body  with  the  best  nourishment  his 
present  circumstances  would  afford.  He  prudently  gave  him  but 
little  at  a  time,  and  increased  tbe  quantity  as  his  strength  and  the 
power  of  digestion  increased.  In  a  few  days  the  man  recovered 
such  a  degree  of  strength  as  to  be  able  to  ride  on  horseback. 
Givins  furnished  him  with  one  of  those  he  had  taken  with  him  to 
carry  home  his  meat,  and  conducted  him  to  Captain  (afterward 
Colonel)  Dickerson's,  who  then  lived  near  the  Windy  Cave.  Dicker- 
son  supplied  his  wants,  and  entertained  him  for  some  months  with  a 
generosity  that  is  more  common  with  rough  backwoodsmen,  who 
are  acquainted  with  the  hardships  of  life,  than  among  the  opulent 
sons  of  luxury  and  ease. 

The  poor  man  considered  that  he  had  no  way  to  make  himself 
and  his  complicated  distresses  known,  without  the  help  of  lan- 
guage :  he  therefore  resolved  to  make  himself  acquainted  with  the 
English  tongue  as  soon  as  possible.  In  this  his  progress  was  sur- 
prising :  he  procured  pen,  ink,  and  paper,  and  spent  much  of  his 
time  in  writing  down  remarkable  and  important  words,  pronouncing 
them,  and  getting  whoever  was  present  to  correct  his  pronunciation. 
By  his  indefatigable  application,  and  the  kind  assistance  of  Colonel 
Dickerson's  family,  he  in  a  few  months  was  so  far  master  of  Eng- 
lish as  to  speak  it  with  considerable  propriety.  When  he  found 
himself  sufficiently  qualified  for  communicating  his  ideas,  he  gave 
the  colonel  and  others  a  most  moving  narrative  of  his  various 
unparalleled  misfortunes.  He  said  his  name  was  Selim ;  that  he 
was  born  of  wealthy  and  respectable  parents  in  Algiers  ;  that  when 
a  small  boy  his  parents  sent  him  to  Constantinople,  with  a  view  to 
have  him  liberally  educated  there  ;  and  -that  after  he  had  spent 
several  years  in  that  city,  in  pursuit  of  learning,  he  returned  to 
Africa  to  see  his  parents,  with  a  view  to  return  to  Constantinople 
to  finish  his  education.  The  ship  in  which  he  embarked  was  taken 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  343 

by  a  Spanish  man-of-war  or  privateer,  and  Selim  thus  became  a 
prisoner  of  war.  The  Spaniards  were  at  this  time  in  alliance  with 
France  against  England.  Falling  in  with  a  French  ship  bound  to 
New  Orleans,  they  put  him  on  board  this  vessel,  which  carried  him 
to  the  place  of  its  destination.  After  living  some  time  among  the 
French  at  New  Orleans,  they  sent  him  up  the  rivers  Mississippi 
and  Ohio  to  the  Shawnee  towns,  and  left  him  a  prisoner  of  war 
with  the  Indians,  who  at  that  time  lived  near  the  Ohio.  There 
was  at  the  same  time  a  white  woman,  who  had  been  taken  from  the 
frontiers  of  Virginia,  a  prisoner  with  the  same  tribe  of  Indians. 
Selim  inquired  of  her,  by  signs,  whence  she  came.  The  woman 
answered  by  pointing  directly  toward  the  sunrising.  He  was  so 
far  acquainted  with  the  geography  of  America  as  to  know  that 
there  were  English  settlements  on  the  eastern  shore  of  this  conti- 
nent ;  and  he  rightly  supposed  the  woman  had  been  taken  prisoner 
from  some  of  them.  Having  received  this  imperfect  information, 
he  resolved  to  attempt  an  escape  from  ihe  Indians  to  some  of  these 
settlements.  This  was  a  daring  attempt,  for  he  was  an  entire 
stranger  to  the  distance  he  would  have  to  travel  and  the  dangers 
which  lay  in  his  way ;  he  had  no  pilot  but  the  sun,  nor  any  pro- 
visions for  his  journey, — nor  gun,  ammunition,  or  other  means  of 
obtaining  them.  Being  thus  badly  provided  for,  and  under  all 
these  discouraging  circumstances,  he  set  out  on  his  arduous  journey 
through  an  unknown  mountainous  wilderness  of  several  hundred 
miles.  Not  knowing  the  extent  of  the  settlements  he  aimed  at,  he 
apprehended  danger  of  missing  them  should  he  turn  much  to  the 
north  or  south,  and  therefore  resolved  to  keep  as  directly  to  the 
sunrising  as  he  possibly  could,  whatever  rivers  or  mountains  might 
obstruct  his  path.  Through  all  these  difficulties  Selim  travelled 
on  until  the  few  clothes  he  had  were  torn  to  pieces  by  bushes, 
thorns,  and  briers.  These,  when  thus  torn  and  fit  for  no  other 
service,  he  wrapped  and  tied  about  his  feet  to  defend  them  from 
injuries.  Thus  he  travelled  naked,  until  his  skin  was  torn  to 
pieces  with  briers  and  thorns,  his  body  emaciated,  his  strength  ex- 
hausted with  hunger  and  fatigue,  and  his  spirits  sunk  under  dis- 
couragements. All  he  had  to  strengthen  and  cheer  him  was  a  few 
nuts  and  berries  he  gathered  by  the  way,  and  the  distant  prospect 
of  once  more  seeing  his  native  land.  But  this  pleasing  prospect 
could  animate  him  no  longer,  nor  could  these  scanty  provisions 
support  him.  His  strength  failed,  and  he  sank  into  despair  of 
every  thing  but  ending  a  miserable  life  in  a  howling  wilderness,  sur- 
rounded by  wild  beasts  !  Finding  he  could  travel  no  farther,  he 


I 

344  OLD    CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,   AND 

fixed  upon  the  top  of  the  tree  where  Givins  found  him,  as  the  spot 
where  his  sorrows  and  his  life  must  end  together.  But  God,  whose 
providence  is  over  all  his  creatures,  had  other  views.  While  Selim 
was  dying  this  lingering,  painful  death,  and  was  scarce  able  to  move 
his  feeble  limbs,  relief  was  sent  him  by  the  beneficent  hand  of 
Givins :  he  is  again  restored  to  life,  and  hope  once  more  revives 
and  animates  his  sinking  heart.  No  doubt  Colonel  Dickerson  was 
sensibly  touched  with  this  moving  tale  of  woe,  and  the  generous 
feelings  of  his  humanity  greatly  increased.  I  infer  it  from  his 
conduct ;  for  he  furnished  Selim  with  a  horse  to  ride,  treated  him 
as  a  companion,  and  took  him  to  visit  the  neighbours  and  see  the 
country.  He  accompanied  the  colonel  to  Staunton,  where  the 
court  of  Augusta  county  sat,  and  where  the  inhabitants  of  the 
county  were  assembled,  it  being  court-day.  Among  the  rest  was 
the  Rev.  John  Craig,  a  Presbyterian  minister  of  the  Gospel,  who 
resided  a  few  miles  from  town.  When  Selim  saw  Mr.  Craig  he 
was  struck  with  his  appearance,  turned  his  particular  attention  to 
him,  and  after  some  time  came  and  spoke  to  him,  and  intimated  a 
desire  to  go  home  with  him.  Mr.  Craig  welcomed  him  to  his 
house,  and  then,  or  afterward,  asked  him  why  he  desired  to  go 
home  with  him  in  particular,  being  an  entire  stranger,  whom  he  had 
never  seen  before.  Selim  replied  : — 

"  When  I  was  in  my  distress,  I  once  in  my  sleep  dreamed  that  I 
was  in  my  own  country,  and  saw  in  my  dream  the  largest  assembly  of 
men  my  eyes  had  ever  beheld,  collected  in  a  wide  plain,  all  dressed 
in  uniform  and  drawn  up  in  military  order.  At  the  farther  side 
of  the  plain,  and  almost  at  an  immense  distance,  I  saw  a  person 
whom  I  understood  to  be  one  of  great  distinction ;  but,  by  reason 
of  the  vast  distance  he  was  from  me,  I  could  not  discern  what  sort 
of  a  person  he  was.  I  only  knew  him  to  be  a  person  of  great  emi- 
nence. I  saw  every  now  and  then  one  or  two  of  this  large  as- 
sembly attempting  to  go  across  the  plain  to  this  distinguished 
personage ;  but  when  they  had  got  about  half-way  over,  they 
suddenly  dropped  into  a  hole  in  the  earth,  and  I  saw  them  no 
more.  I  also  imagined  that  I  saw  an  old  man  standing  by  himself, 
at  a  distance  from  this  large  assembly,  and  one  or  two  of  the  mul- 
titude applied  to  him  for  direction  how  to  cross  the  plain  in  safety ; 
and  all  who  received  and  followed  it  got  safe  across.  As  soon  as 
I  saw  you,"  added  Selim,  "I  knew  you  to  be  the  man  who  gave 
these  directions ;  and  this  has  convinced  me  that  it  is  the  mind  of 
God  that  I  should  apply  to  you  for  instructions  in  religion.  It  is 
for  this  reason  I  desire  to  go  home  with  you.  When  I  was  among 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  345 

the  French,  they  endeavoured  to  prevail  on  me  to  embrace  the 
Christian  religion.  But,  as  I  observed  they  made  use  of  images  in 
their  religious  worship,  I  looked  on  Christianity  with  abhorrence ; 
such  worship  being,  in  my  opinion,  idolatrous." 

Mr.  Craig  cheerfully  undertook  the  agreeable  work  he  seemed 
called  to  by  an  extraordinary  Providence.  He  soon  found  that 
Selim  understood  the  Greek  language,  which  greatly  facilitated  the 
business.  He  furnished  a  Greek  Testament ;  Selim  spent  his  time 
cheerfully  in  reading  it,  and  Mr.  Craig  his  leisure  hours  in  explain- 
ing to  him  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  the  space  of  about  two 
weeks  he  obtained  what  Mr.  Craig  esteemed  a  competent  knowledge 
of  the  Christian  religion.  He  went  to  Mr.  Craig's  house  of  wor- 
ship, made  a  public  profession  of  Christianity,  and  was  baptized 
in  the  name  of  the  adorable  Trinity.  Some  time  after  this,  Selim 
informed  Mr.  Craig  that  he  was  desirous  to  return  to  his  native 
country  and  once  more  see  his  parents  and  friends.  Mr.  Craig 
reminded  him  that  his  friends  and  countrymen,  being  Mohammedans, 
entertained  strong  prejudices  against  the  Christian  religion,  and 
that,  as  he  now  professed  to  be  a  Christian,  he  would  probably  be 
used  ill  on  that  account,  and  that  here  in  America  he  might  enjoy 
his  religion  without  disturbance.  To  which  Selim  replied,  that  his 
father  was  a  man  of  good  estate,  and  he  was  his  heir ;  that  he  had 
never  been  brought  up  to  labour,  and  knew  no  possible  way  in 
which  he  could  obtain  a  subsistence ;  that  he  could  not  bear  the 
thought  of  living  a  life  of  dependence  upon  strangers  and  being  a 
burden  to  them ;  that  he  was  sensible  of  the  strong  prejudices  of 
his  friends  against  Christianity,  yet  could  not  think  that,  after  all 
the  calamities  he  had  undergone,  his  father's  religious  prejudices 
would  so  far  get  the  better  of  his  humanity  as  to  cause  him  to  use 
his  son  ill  on  that  account ;  and  that,  at  all  events,  he,  desired  to 
make  the  experiment.  Mr.  Craig  urged  that  the  favourable 
regards  of  his  friends  and  a  good  estate  on  the  one  hand,  and  a 
life  of  poverty  and  distress  on  the  other,  might  prove  a  too  power- 
ful temptation  to  renounce  that  religion  he  now  professed  to  believe 
true,  and  to  return  again  to  Mohammedanism.  Selim  said,  what- 
ever the  event  might  be,  he  was  resolved  never  to  deny  Jesus. 

When  Mr.  Craig  found  that  he  was  fully  resolved,  he  applied  to 
some  of  his  neighbours,  and,  with  their  assistance,  furnished  Selim 
with  as  much  money  as  they  supposed  sufficient  to  defray  his  ex- 
penses to  England,  from  whence  he  said  he  could  easily  get  a 
passage  to  Africa.  He  furnished  him,  also,  with  a  letter  to  the 
Hon.  Robert  Carter,  who  then  lived  in  Williamsburg  and  was 


I 

346  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

noted  for  his  beneficence  to  the  poor  and  afflicted,  requesting  him 
to  procure  for  the  bearer  an  agreeable  passage  in  some  ship  bound 
to  England.  Mr.  Carter  did  more  than  was  requested  of  him  :  he 
furnished  Selim  plentifully  with  sea-stores.  Being  thus  provided 
for,  he  set  sail  for  England,  with  the  nattering  prospect  before  him 
of  being  once  more  happy  in  his  own  country  and  in  the  arms  of 
his  affectionate  parents.  For  many  months  no  more  is  heard  of 
him  by  his  American  acquaintance. 

How  long  after  this  I  do  not  recollect, — perhaps  some  years, — 
the  poor  unfortunate  Selim  returned  again  to  Virginia  in  a  state 
of  insanity.     He  came  to  Williamsburg,  and  to  the  house  of  his 
old  benefactor,  Mr.  Carter.     His  constant  complaint  was,  that  he 
had  no  friend,  and  where  should  he  find  a  friend  ?     From  which 
complaint  the  cause  of  his  present  very  pitiable   situation  was 
easily  conjectured :  his  father  was  not  his  friend.     Notwithstanding 
the  derangement  of  his  mental  powers,  he  had  certain  lucid  inter- 
vals, in  which  he  so  far  enjoyed  his  reason  as  to  be  able  to  give 
a  pretty  distinct  account  of  his  adventures  after  he  left  Virginia. 
He  said  he  had  a  speedy  and  safe  passage  to  England,  and  from 
thence  to  Africa ;  and  that,  on  his  arrival,  he  found  his  parents 
still  alive,  but  that  it  was  not  in  his  power  long  to  conceal  it  from 
them  that  he  had  renounced  Mohammedanism  and  embraced  the 
Christian  religion,  and  that  his  father  no  sooner  found  this  to  be 
the  case  than  he  disowned   him  as  a  child  and  turned  him  out 
of  his  house.     Affection  for  his  parents,  grief  for  their  religious 
prejudices    and    his    own    temporal    ruin,    tormented    his    tender 
heart.     He  was  now  turned  out  into  the  world,  without  money, 
without  a  friend,  without  any  art  by  which  he  could  obtain  a  sub- 
sistence.     He  left  his  own  country,  the  estate  on  which  he  ex- 
pected to  spend  his  life,  and  all  his  natural  connections,  without 
the  most   distant  prospect  of  ever  seeing  or  enjoying  them  more. 
He  went  to  England,  in  hopes  of  there  finding  some  way  to  live, 
where  he  could  enjoy  his  religion  when  every  other  source  of  com- 
fort was  dried  up.     But,  having  no  friend  to  introduce  him  to  the 
pious  and  benevolent,  he  found  no  way  to  subsist  in  that  country ; 
on  which  he  resolved  to  return  to  America,  it  being  a  new  country, 
where  the  poor  could  more  easily  find  the  means  of  support.     In 
his  passage  to  Virginia — while  he  had  probably  no  pious  friend  to 
console  him  in  his  distresses  nor  to  encourage  and  support  him 
under  them,  and  while  he  had  little  to  do  but  pore  over  his  wretched 
situation — he  sunk,  under  the  weight  of  his  complicated  calamities, 
into  a  state  of  insanity. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  347 

Though  Selim's  great  distress  was  that  he  had  no  friend  and 
he  was  constantly  roving  about  in  quest  of  one,  yet  of  friendship 
he  was  incapable  of  enjoying  the  advantages.  In  pursuit  of  his 
object  he  went  up  to  Colonel  Dickerson's,  but  to  no  purpose. 
From  thence  he  wandered  away  to  the  Warm  Springs,  where  was 
at  that  time  a  young  clergyman  of  the  name  of  Templeton,  who, 
having  understood  something  of  his  history,  entered  into  conversa- 
tion with  him.  He  asked  him,  among  other  things,  whether  he 
was  acquainted  with  the  Greek  language ;  to  which  he  modestly 
replied  that  he  understood  a  little  of  it.  Mr.  Templeton  put  a 
Greek  Testament  into  his  hand,  and  asked  him  to  read  and  con- 
strue some  of  it.  He  took  the  book  and  opened  it,  and,  when  he 
saw  what  it  was,  in  a  transport  of  joy  he  pressed  it  to  his  heart, 
and  then  complied  with  Mr.  Templeton's  request.  By  these 
actions  he  showed  his  great  veneration  for  the  Sacred  Scriptures, 
and  how  long  he  had  retained  the  knowledge  of  the  Greek  in  cir- 
cumstances the  most  unfavourable.  From  the  Warm  Springs  he 
went  down  to  Mr.  Carter's,  (who,  by  this  time,  had  removed  from 
Williamsburg  to  his  seat  in  Westmoreland  county,)  in  hopes  that 
gentleman  would  act  the  part  of  a  friend,  as  he  had  formerly 
done;  but  still,  poor  man,  he  was  incapable  of  enjoying  what  he 
greatly  needed  and  most  desired.  He  soon  wandered  away  from 
Mr.  Carter's,  was  taken,  and  carried  to  the  madhouse  in  Williams- 
burg. 

The  above  account  I  received  from  Mr.  Craig,  Mr.  Carter,  and 
Mr.  Templeton ;  and  it  is  the  substance  of  all  I  knew  of  Selim 
before  I  came  to  reside  in  this  State.  Since  my  arrival  here  I 
have  seen  several  men  who  were  personally  acquainted  with  him 
while  in  a  state  of  derangement.  They  say  he  was  commonly  in- 
offensive in  his  behaviour,  grateful  for  favours  received,  manifested 
a  veneration  for  religion,  was  frequently  engaged  in  prayer, — that 
his  prayers  were  commonly,  though  not  always,  pretty  sensible 
and  tolerably  well  connected, — and  that  he  appeared  to  have  the 
temper  and  behaviour  of  a  gentleman,  though  he  was  in  ruins ; 
that  he  went  roving  from  place  to  place,  sometimes  almost  naked 
for  want  of  sense  to  keep  on  the  clothes  that  he  had  received 
from  the  hand  of  charity,  until  he  was  taken  with  the  sickness 
which  put  an  end  to  his  sorrows ;  that  when  he  was  taken  sick  his 
reason  was  restored  and  continued  to  his  last  moments ;  that  the 
family  where  he  lay  sick  and  died  treated  him  with  great  tender- 
ness, for  which  he  expressed  the  utmost  gratitude,  and  that,  at  his 
request  and  importunity,  no  persons  sat  up  with  him  on  the  night 


i 

348  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

in  which  he  died.  It  appears,  however,  that  he  died  with  great 
composure;  for  he  placed  himself,  his  hands,  his  feet,  and  his 
whole  body,  in  a  proper  posture  to  be  laid  in  his  coffin,  and  so 
expired. 

The  following  is  added  by  a  descendant  of  Mr.  Page : — 

"  Among  the  pictures  that  made  the  deepest  impression  on  me  at  Rose- 
well,  and  which  decorated  the  old  hall,  was  that  of  Selim.  He  was  painted 
Indian  fashion,  with  a  blanket  round  his  shoulders,  a  straw  hat  on  his 
head,  tied  on  with  a  check  handkerchief.  This  portrait  Governor  Page 
had  taken  in  Philadelphia,  by  Peale  -,  and,  when  the  box  arrived  at-  Rose- 
well,  the  family  and  servants  were  all  assembled  in  the  hall  to  see  it  opened. 
Great  was  their  astonishment  and  disappointment  to  find,  instead  of  a  por- 
trait of  their  father  and  master,  Selim's  picture,  which  was  greeted  instantly 
with  his  usual  salutation,  '  God  save  ye.7  He  was  a  constant  visitor  at 
Rosewell,  and  was  always  kindly  received  by  servants  and  children,  who 
respected  him  for  his  gentleness,  piety,  and  learning.  One  of  his  fancies 
was  never  to  sleep  in  a  house,  and,  unless  he  could  be  furnished  with  regi- 
mentals, disdained  all  other  clothing.  One  of  his  greatest  pleasures,  when 
in  Williamsburg,  was  to  read  Greek  with  Professor  Small  and  President 
Horrocks,  of  William  and  Mary,  and  at  Rosewell,  with  Mr.  Page,  and  his 
youngest  son,  who  read  Greek  and  Hebrew  at  a  very  early  period ;  but  it 
was  always  out  of  doors. 

"  When  in  Yorktown,  the  old  windmill  (which  was  blown  down  by  a 
late  tornado,  and  was  long  a  relic  of  olden  times,  and  which  ground  nearly 
all  the  bread  used  in  York)  was  his  resting-place.  The  only  time  he  was 
ever  in  the  York  House  he  was  coaxed  by  General  Nelson's  oldest  daughter 
and  niece  to  take  his  seat  in  Lady  Nelson's  sedan-chair.  As  they  bore 
him  in  and  rested  in  the  passage,  he  rose  up,  and  sang  melodiously  one 
of  Dr.  Watts's  hymns  for  children, — 

'How  glorious  is  our  heavenly  King!' 

The  first  time  it  was  ever  heard  in  Yorktown.  Where  he  learned  it  was 
never  known,  but  we  suppose  it  must  have  been  from  his  Presbyterian 
friends  in  Prince  Edward.  He  had  a  trick  of  constantly  passing  his 
hands  over  his  face,  and,  when  questioned  about  it,  would  say,  '  It  is  the 
blow — that  disgrace  to  a  gentleman — given  me  by  that  Louisiana  planter ; 
but — thank  God!  thank  God!  but  for  the  Saviour  I  could  not  bear  it.' 

"  I  have  always  understood  he  went  to  South  Carolina  from  Phila- 
delphia with  a  gentleman  who  took  a  fancy  to  him  and  got  him  off  with 
the  promise  of  a  full  suit  of  regimentals,  and  there  we  lose  sight  of  him." 

The  picture  of  Selim  may  still  be  seen  in  the  library  of  Mr. 
Robert  Saunders,  of  Williamsburg.  Mr.  Saunders  married  a 
daughter  of  Governor  Page,  and  thus  inherited  it.  Selim,  out  of 
his  attachment  to  Mr.  Page,  either  followed  or  went  with  him  to 
Philadelphia,  where  the  American  Congress  was  sitting,  of  which 
Mr.  Page  was  a  member.  Mr.  Peale  was  then  a  most  eminent 
painter. 


-- 
FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  349 


ARTICLE  XXX. 

Gloucester. — No.  4.     Supplement  to  the  Articles  on  Gloucester. 

ACCORDING  to  a  purpose  expressed  in  one  of  my  previous  numbers, 
I  have  visited  some  places  in  Gloucester,  with  a  view  of  obtaining 
the  most  accurate  information  concerning  some  antiquated  places 
which  have  interest  in  them  for  more  than  mere  antiquaries.  My 
first  visit  was  to  the  old  stone  chimney  which  tradition  says  be- 
longed to  the  house  built  by  Captain  Smith  for  King  Powhatan  at 
or  near  his  residence  on  York  River,  in  Gloucester.  I  acknowledge 
that  I  had  never  placed  much  confidence  in  this  tradition ;  for,  though 
I  did  not  doubt  but  that  Captain  Smith  had  built  a  log  room  with 
a  stone  chimney  for  the  King,  yet  I  did  doubt  whether  any  remains 
of  the  room  or  chimney  could  now  be  seen.  I  am  sure  that  there 
is  now  no  other  remnant  of  such  architecture,  either  in  stone  or 
wood,  to  be  found  in  Virginia.  I  went  therefore  to  the  spot  with 
no  little  of  skepticism  on  the  subject.  On  a  high  point  of  land, 
divided  by  Timberneck  Creek  from  Mr.  Catlett's  farm,  the  former 
seat  of  the  Manns,  there  is  a  wooden  "frame  room,  of  more  recent 
construction,  attached  to  a  low,  Dutch-built  chimney  intended  only 
for  a  single-story  house.  The  chimney  has  recently  been  covered 
on  the  outside  with  a  coat  of  plastering.  The  fireplace  within  was 
eight  feet  four  inches  wide — that  is,  the  opening  to  receive  the 
wood — and  four  feet  d«ep,  and  more  than  six  feet  high,  so  that  the 
tallest  man  might  walk  into  it  and  a  number  of  men  sit  within  it 
around  the  fire.  All  this  was  royal  enough ;  but  as  many  of  the  old 
chimneys  in  Virginia,  especially  of  the  negro  quarters,  were  as 
large  in  former  days,  when  wood  abounded,  rny  skepticism  was  not 
entirely  removed  until  I  perceived,  in  the  only  crack  which  was  to 
be  seen  outside  of  the  wall,  something  which  showed  that  the  mate- 
rial was  of  no  ordinary  kind  of  stone,  but  like  that  of  which  the 
old  church  at  York  was  built, — viz. :  marl  out  of  the  bank,  which 
only  hardens  by  fire  and  by  exposure.  To  render  this  more  certain, 
I  asked  the  owner  of  the  house  if  he  could  not  get  me  a  small  block 
of  the  material  from  the  bottom  of  the  chimney,  near  the  ground, 
so  as  not  to  injure  it.  He  obligingly  consented,  and,  bringing  an 
old  axe,  by  repeated  and  heavy  blows  disengaged  from  the  chimney  a 


350  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

fragment  of  it,  which  I  found  to  be  what  I  conjectured, — a  particular 
kind  of  marl,  composed  of  shells,  and  which  abounds  on  some  of 
the  high  banks  of  York  River,  on  both  sides.  I  am  now  satisfied 
that  this  is  really  the  stone  chimney  built  by  Captain  Smith. 
There  is  no  other  kind  of  stone — if  this  may  be  called  stone — in 
this  region ;  and  it  was  much  easier  for  Captain  Smith  to  use  this 
than  to  make  and  burn  brick.  It  is,  moreover,  more  durable  than 
brick  or  stone.  It  is  impossible  to  say  how  many  generations  of  log 
or  frame  rooms  have  been  built  to  this  celebrated  chimney.  There 
is  a  contest  between  this  spot  and  Shelly  for  the  honour  of  being 
Powhatan's  residence ;  and  it  is  thought  by  some  that  the  old  chimney 
decides  it  in  behalf  of  this.  Shelly,  in  a  straight  line,  is  little  more 
than  a  mile  from  this,  and  may  have  been  the  residence  of  the 
King  and  his  tribe  (and  there  are  some  strong  marks  of  this)  at  the 
time,  though  he  may  have  preferred  to  have  this  house  built  on  the 
high  and  commanding  bluff  on  which  it  stands.  Moreover,  Smith 
and  his  men  may  have  preferred,  while  at  their  work,  to  be  at  a 
little  distance  from  his  royal  majesty  and  his  treacherous  people. 

Bearing  away  with  me  the  piece  of  marl-stone  from  Powhatan's 
chimney,  to  be  kept  in  proof  of  what  I  now  believe  to  be  fact,  I 
crossed  the  creek,  and  sought  at  the  old  homestead  of  the  Manns 
for  some  sepulchral  monument  showing  that  tradition  was  true  in 
relation  to  the  residence  of  a  family  whose  name  is  only  to  be 
found  incorporated  with  other  names,  inheriting  an  estate  which 
not  only  once  covered  the  half  of  Gloucester,  if  report  be  true,  but 
was  scattered  in  large  parcels  over  numerous  other  counties.  In 
or  near  the  stable-yard,  in  an  open  place,  there  is  to  be  seen  a  pile 
of  tombstones  lying  upon  and  beside  each  other  in  promiscuous 
confusion,  on  which  may  be  read  the  following  inscriptions : — 

u  Here  lyeth  the  body  of  John  Mann,  of  Gloucester  county,  in  Virginia, 
gentleman,  aged  sixty-three  years,  who  departed  this  life  the  7th  dav  of 
January,  1694." 

Also, — 

"  Here  lyeth  the  body  of  Mrs.  Mary  Mann,  of  the  county  of  Gloucester, 
in  the  Colony  of  Virginia,  gentlewoman,  who  departed  this  life  the  18th 
day  of  March,  1703-4,  aged  fifty-six  years." 

Their  daughter  and  only  child  married  Matthew  Page,  son  of 
John  Page,  the  first  of  the  family.  They  buried  a  child  at  this 
place,  whose  tombstone  is  a  part  of  this  pile,  and  reads  as  follows : 

"  Here  lyeth  the  body  of  Elizabeth  Page,  daughter  of  Matthew  Page, 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  351 

of  the  Colony  of  Virginia,  gentleman,  aged  three  years,  who  departed  this 
life  the  15th  of  March,  Anno  Domini  1693." 

THE   TOMBS   AT   EOSEWELL. 

My  next  visit  was  to  Rosewell, — the  mansion  of  which  I  have 
spoken  in  one  of  the  preceding  articles. 

Mr.  Matthew  Page  moved  to  this  place  from  Timberneck.  Three 
of  his  young  children — Matthew,  Mary,  and  Ann — are  buried  here 
before  the  month  of  August,  1704.  This  appears,  or  did  appear, 
from  their  tombs.  The  following  is  the  inscription  on  the  heavy 
ironstone  tomb  of  Matthew  Page : — 

i. 

"Here  lyeth  interred  the  body  of  the  Honble  Col.  Matthew  Page,  one  of 
Her  Majesty's  most  Honble  Council,  of  the  parish  of  Abington,  in  the 
county  of  Gloucester,  Colony  of  Virginia,  son  of  the  Honble  John  Page,  of 
the  parish  of  Bruton,  in  the  county  of  York,  in  the  aforesaid  Colony,  who 
departed  this  life  the  9th  day  of  January,  Anno  Domini  1703,  in  the 
45th  year  of  his  age." 

II. 

"  Here  lyeth  interred  the  body  of  Mary  Page,  wife  of  the  Honble  Matthew 
Page,  Esquire,  one  of  Her  Majesty's  Council  of  this  Colony  of  Virginia,  a 
daughter  of  John  and  Mary  Mann,  who  departed  this  life  the  24th  day  of 
March,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1707,  in  the  36th  year  of  her  age." 

ill. 

"  Here  lie  the  remains  of  the  Honble  Mann  Page,  Esquire,  one  of  His 
Majesty's  Council,  of  the  Colony  of  Virginia,  who  departed  this  life  the 
24th  day  of  January,  1730,  in  the  40th  year  of  his  age.  He  was  the  only 
son  of  the  Honbhi  Matthew  Page,  Esquire,  who  was  likewise  member  of  His 
Majesty's  Council.  His  first  wife  was  Judith,  daughter  of  Ralf  Wormley, 
Esquire,  Secretary  of  Virginia,  by  whom  he  had  two  sons  and  a  daughter. 
He  afterward  married  Judith,  daughter  of  the  Honble  Robert  Carter,  Es- 
quire, President  of  Virginia,  with  whom  he  lived  in  the  most  tender  reci- 
procal affection  for  twelve  years,  leaving  by  her  five  sons  and  a  daughter. 
His  public  trust  he  faithfully  discharged,  with  candour  and  discretion, 
truth  and  justice.  Nor  was  he  less  eminent  in  his  private  behaviour;  for 
he  was  a  tender  husband  and  indulgent  father,  a  gentle  master  and  faithful 
friend,  being  to  all  courteous  and  beneficent,  kind  and  affable.  This 
monument  was  piously  erected  to  his  memory  by  his  mournfully  surviving 
lady- 
There  were  tombstones  with  inscriptions  over  each  of  the  wives 
of  this,  the  first  Mann  Page, — one  in  Latin  and  the  other  in 
English.  The  latter  was  first  broken  and  then  crumbled  away. 

One  of  the  sons  of  the  above-mentioned  Mann  Page  was  named 
Mann,  and  inherited  Rosewell.  The  following  is  the  inscription 
over  his  first  wife : — 


352  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

TV. 

"  Here  lyeth  the  body  of  Alice  Page,  wife  of  Mann  Page,  who  departed 
this  life  the  llth  day  of  January,  1746,  in  childbed  of  her  second  son,  in 
the  23d  year  of  her  age,  leaving  two  sons  and  one  daughter.  She  was 
the  third  daughter  of  the  Honble  John  Grymes,  Esquire,  of  Middlesex 
county,  one  of  His  Majesty's  Council  in  this  Colony.  Her  personal  beauty 
and  the  uncommon  sweetness  of  her  temper,  her  affable  deportment  and 
exemplary  behaviour,  made  her  respected  by  all  who  knew  her.  The 
spotless  innocency  of  her  life  and  her  singular  piety,  her  constancy  and 
resignation  at  the  hour  of  death,  sufficiently  testified  her  firm  and  certain 
hope  of  a  joyful  resurrexion.  To  her  sacred  memory  this  monument  is 
piously  erected." 

His  second  wife  was  Miss  Ann  Corbin  Tayloe.  Two  of  their 
sons,  who  died  young,  are  buried  at  Rosewell,  having  tombs  and 
inscriptions.  Governor  Page,  of  Virginia,  was  a  son  by  his  first 
wife,  Alice  Grymes.  There  is  no  tombstone  over  the  second  Mann 
Page.  Governor  Page  died  in  Richmond,  and  was  buried  in  the 
old  churchyard  around  St.  John's. 

My  next  visit  was  to  the  old  seat  of  the  Burwells,  about  two 
miles  from  Rosewell,  on  Carter's  Creek,  and  in  full  view  of  York 
River.  It  was  formerly  called  Fairfield,  and  is  so  marked  on 
Bishop  Madison's  map  of  Virginia.  It  has  for  some  time  past  been 
called  Carter's  Creek  only.  The  house,  as  appears  by  figures  on 
one  of  the  walls,  was  built  either  in  1684  or  1694.  A  portion  of 
it  has  been  taken  down :  the  rest  is  still  strong  and  likely  to  endure 
for  no  little  time  to  come.  The  graveyard  is  in  a  pasture-lot  not 
far  from  the  house.  Being  unenclosed,  it  is  free  to  all  the  various 
animals  which  belong  to  a  Virginia  farm.  Hogs,  sheep,  cows,  and 
horses,  have  free  access  to  it ;  and,  as  there  is  a  grove  of  a  few  old 
trees  overshadowing  it,  the  place  is  a  favourite  resort  in  summer. 
The  tombs  are  very  massive.  The  slabs  on  which  the  inscriptions 
are  engraved  are  of  the  same  heavy  ironstone  or  black  marble  with 
those  at  Rosewell,  Timberneck,  and  Bellfield,  of  which  we  have 
spoken.  The  framework  underneath  them  lias  generally  given  way, 
and  they  lie  in  various  positions  about  the  ground.  A  large  honey- 
locust,  around  which  several  of  them  were  placed,  having  attained 
its  maturity,  was  either  blown  down  by  the  wind  or  struck  by  light- 
ning, and  fell  across  them,  breaking  one  of  the  largest  into  pieces. 
The  young  shoots  of  the  tree,  springing  up,  have  now  themselves 
become  trees  of  considerable  size,  and  afford  shade  for  inanimate 
tombs  and  living  beasts.  None  of  the  family  have  for  a  long  time 
owned  this  ancient  seat. 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  353 


TOMBS  AT  CARTER'S  CREEK,  OR  FAIRFIELD. 

i. 

"  Teethe  lasting  memory  of  Major  Lewis  Burwell,  of  the  county  of  Glou- 
cester, in  Virginia,  gentleman,  who  descended  from  the  ancient  family  of  the 
Burwells,  of  the  counties  of  Bedford  and  Northampton,  in  England,  who, 
nothing  more  worthy  in  his  birth  than  virtuous  in  his  life,  exchanged  this 
life  for  a  better,  on  the  19th  day  of  November,  in  the  33d  year  of  his  age, 
A.D.  1658." 


ii. 


"  The  daughter  of  Robert  Higginson.     She  died  November  26th,  1675. 
.  .  .  .  She  was  the  wife  of  Major  Lewis  Burwell." 


ill. 

"  Here  lyeth  the  body  of  Lewis,  son  of  Lewis  Burwell  and  Abigail  his 
wife,  on  the  left  hand  of  his  brother  Bacon  and  sister  Jane.  He  departed 
this  life  ye  sixteenth  day  of  September,  1676,  in  the  15th  year  of  his 
age." 

rv. 

"  Here  lyeth  the  body  of  Mary,  the  daughter  of  Lewis  and  Martha  his 
wife.  She  departed  this  life  in  the  first  year  of  her  age,  on  the  20th  of 
July." 

y. 

"To  the  sacred  memory  of  Abigail,  the  loving  and  beloved  wife  of 
Major  Lewis  Burwell,  of  the  county  of  Gloucester,  gent.,  who  was  de- 
scended of  the  illustrious  family  of  the  Bacons,  and  heiress  of  the  Hon. 
Nathaniel  Bacon,  Esq.,  President  of  Virginia,  who,  not  being  more 
honourable  in  her  birth  than  virtuous  in  her  life,  departed  this  world  the 
12th  day  of  November,  1672,  aged  36  years,  having  blessed  her  husband 
with  four  sons  and  six  daughters." 

VI. 

"  Beneath  this  tomb  lyeth  the  body  of  Major  Nathaniel  Burwell,  eldest 
son  of  Major  Lewis  Burwell,  who,  by  well-regulated  conduct  and  firm  in- 
tegrity, justly  established  a  good  reputation.  He  died  in  the  41st  year 
of  his  age,  leaving  behind  him  three  sons  and  one  daughter,*  by  Elizabeth, 
eldest  daughter  of  Robert  Carter,  Esq.,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  Christ 
1721." 

VII. 

"  Here  lyeth  the  body  of  the  Hon.  Lewis  Burwell,  son  of  Major  Lewis 
Burwell  and  Lucy  his  wife,  of  the  county  of  Gloucester,  who  first  married 

*  Of  these,  the  daughter,  Elizabeth  Burwell,  married  President  William  Nelson, 
and  was  the  mother  of  General  Thomas  Nelson,  &c.  One  son,  Lewis,  was  the  grand- 
father of  the  late  Lewis  Burwell,  of  Richmond,  &c.,  and  father  of  Mrs.  P.  B.  Whi- 
ting ;  and  the  other  was  Carter  Burwell,  of  The  Grove,  who  married  Lucy  Grymes, 
the  sister  of  Alice,  wife  of  Mann  Page,  and  daughter  of  the  Hon.  John  Grymes  ; 
and  he  was  the  father  of  Col.  Nathaniel  Burwell,  of  Carter  Hall,  in  Frederick 
county,  Virginia ;  and  the  third  son  was  Robert  Carter  Burwell,  of  the  Isle  of 
Wight,  the  father  of  Nathaniel  Burwell  of  the  same  county,  (whose  children  were 
Robert  C.  Burwell,  of  Long  Branch,  Frederick,  and  his  four  sisters,)  and  Fanny, 
the  first  wife  of  Col.  John  Page,  of  Rosewell,  since  Governor  of  Virginia. 

23 


I 

354  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

Abigail  Smith,  of  the  family  of  the  Bacons,  by  whom  he  had  four  sons 
and°six  daughters;  and,  after  her  death,  Martha,  widow  of  the  Hon.  Wil- 
liam Cole,  by  whom  he  had  two  sons  and  eight  daughters,  and  departed 
this  life  19th  day  of  Dec.,  1710,  leaving  behind  him  three  sons  and  six 
daughters." 

VIII. 

"  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  the  dearly-beloved  .  .  .  Martha,  daughter 
of  ....  of  Nansemond  county,  in  Virginia,  married  to  Col.  William 
Cole,  by  whom  she  had  no  sons  and  no  daughters.  Afterward  married 
to  M?ajor  Lewis  Burwell,  by  whom  she  had  six  sons  and  three  daughters ; 
resigned  this  mortal  life  the  4th  day  of  Aug.  1704." 

Copies  of  inscriptions  on  the  tombstones  of  Ware  Church,  which  stones 
were  covered  %  the  erection  of  a  new  chancel-floor  in  said  church  in 

June,  1854. 

I. 

"  Underneath  this  stone  lyeth  interred  the  body  of  Amy  Richards,  tfie 
most  dearly-beloved  wife  of  John  Richards,  minister  of  this  parish,  who 
departed  this  life  21st  of  November,  1725,  aged  40  years. 

"Near  her  dear  mistress  lies  the  body  of  Mary  Ades,  her  faithful  and 
beloved  servant,  who  departed  this  life  the  23d  of  November,  1725,  aged 
28  years." 

n. 

"  Here  lyeth  the  body  of  Mrs.  Ann  Willis,  the  wife  of  Col.  Francis 
Willis,  who  departed  this  life  the  10th  of  June,  1727,  in  the  32d  year 
of  her  age.  Also  the  body  of  A.,  daughter  of  the  abovesaid,  aged  7  days." 

in. 

"  Underneath  this  stone  lyeth  the  body  of  Mr.  John  Richards,  late  rector 
of  Nettlestead,  and  vicar  of  Teston,  in  the  county  of  Kent,  in  the  kingdom 
of  England,  and  minister  of  Ware,  in  the  county  of  Gloucester  and  Colony 
of  Virginia,  who,  after  a  troublesome  passage  through  the  various  changes 
and  chances  of  this  mortal  life,  at  last  reposed  in  this  silent  grave  in  ex- 
pectation of  a  joyful  resurrexion  to  eternal  life.  He  died  the  12th  day 
of  November,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  MDCC  ...  V.,  aged  46." 

IV. 

"  Here  lyeth  the  body  of  Isabel,  daughter  of  Mr.  Thomas  Booth,  wife 
of  Rev.  John  Fox,  minister  of  this  parish  ;  who  with  exemplary  patience 
having  borne  various  afflictions,  and  with  equal  piety  discharged  her  several 
duties  on  earth,  cheerfully  yielded  to  mortality,  exchanging  the  miseries 
of  this  life  for  the  joys  of  a  glorious  eternity,  on  the  13th  day  of  June,  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  MDCCXLIL,  of  her  age  38." 

V. 

1  Here  also  lie  the  bodies  of  Mary  and  Susannah,  daughters  of  the 
above-mentioned  John  and  Isabel.  The  one  departed  this  life  on  the  5th 
day  of  September,  1742,  in  the  4th  year  of  her  age ;  the  other  on  the 
8th  of  October,  in  the  3d  year  of  her  age,  MDCCXLIIL" 

Doubtless  there  are  other  tombstones  in  the  county  bearing  the 
names  of  the  old  worthies  of  former  days ;  but  no  information  con- 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  355 

cerning  them  has  been  furnished  me.  There  is,  I  am  told,  an  old 
graveyard,  with  tombstones,  at  the  old  seat  of  the  Washingtons, 
in  Gloucester,  on  the  Piankatank,  from  which  I  have  been  desirous 
to  hear,  but  have  failed.  One  of  the  sons  of  the  first  John  "Wash- 
ington married  a  Miss  Warner,  of  Gloucester,  and  settled  at  the 
above-mentioned  place.  Hence  sprung  the  combination  of  the 
names  Warner  and  Washington,  so  common  in  these  families. 


I 

356  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 


ARTICLE  XXXI. 

Parishes  in  Middlesex. — No.  1. 

MIDDLESEX  county  was  originally  a  part  of  Lancaster  county, 
when  the  latter  covered  both  sides  of  the  Rappahannock  River  for 
an  indefinite  distance.  Between  the  years  1650  and  1660  it  is 
probable  that  it  was  made  a  separate  county.  Until  that  time  one 
minister  served  the  whole  county,  although  it  is  probable  there 
were  two  parishes  on  either  side  of  the  river  before  the  division  of 
the  county.  Those  on  the  south  side  were  called  Lancaster  and 
Piankatank.  They  were  originally  one,  and  called  Lancaster ; 
and,  in  1666,  became  one  again,  under  the  name  of  Christ  Church, 
Lancaster  county. 

I  have  before  me  the  vestry-book  of  the  parish,  from  the  yea,r 
1663  to  the  year  176T,  commencing  two  years  before  the  reunion. 
There  is  reference  to  a  Rev.  Mr.  Cole,  who  was  minister  of  both 
of  the  parishes  in  the  year  1657;  also  to  a  Mr.  Morris,  as  being 
minister  previous  to  the  reunion.  A  short  time  afterward,  some 
dissensions  as  to  the  bounds  of  the  two  parishes  and  other  matters 
led  to  the  reunion. 

The  first  entry  states  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Henry  Corbin  to 
keep  the  register  of  the  parish,  according  to  a  late  Act  of  As- 
sembly. 

The  next  is  the  vestryman's  oath: — 

"  I,  A.  B.,  as  I  do  acknowledge  myself  a  true  son  of  the  Church  of 
England,  so  I  do  believe  the  articles  of  faith  therein  professed,  and  do 
oblige  myself  to  be  conformable  to  the  doctrine  and  discipline  therein 
taught  and  established;  and  that,  as  a  vestryman  of  Christ  Church,  I  will 
well  and  truly  perform  my  duty  therein,  being  directed  by  the  laws  and 
customs  of  this  country  and  the  canons  of  the  Church  of  England,  so  far 
as  they  will  suit  our  present  capacity;  and  this  I  shall  sincerely  do,  ac- 
cording to  the  best  of  my  knowledge,  skill,  and  cunning,  without  fear, 
favour,  or  partiality;  and  so  help  me  God/' 

Previous  to  the  reunion,  the  vestry  of  Lancaster  parish  had  de- 
termined to  build  a  church,  after  the  model  of  that  of  Williams- 
burg,  either  on  the  north  or  south  side  of  Sunderland  Creek.  By 
lot  it  fell  on  the  north  side ;  but  it  was  never  done.  - 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  357 

In  the  reunion,  in  1666,  it  was  agreed  by  the  vestry  to  build  a 
mother-church, — by  the  name  of  Christ  Church, — at  a  place  about 
midway  the  parish,  after  the  model  of  that  at  Williamsburg,  the 
glass  and  iron  to  be  gotten  from  England.  It  was  accordingly 
built  about  midway  between  Brandon  and  Rosegill,  the  seats  of  the 
Wormleys  and  Grymeses,  not  far  from  the  Rappahannock  River, 
and  was  used  until  the  year  1712,  when  a  new  one  was  built  in  the 
same  place. 

On  the  29th  of  January,  1666,  it  was  resolved  to  continue  Mr, 
Morris  as  the  minister,  but  that  he  be  not  inducted.  On  the  fol- 
lowing day,  at  a  meeting  of  the  vestry,  his  salary  was  paid,  and 
he  was  dismissed.  I  suppose  he  would  not  consent  to  serve  with- 
out induction,  or  that  some  difficulty  arose  between  himself  and 
the  vestry.  Major-General  Robert  Smith  and  Mr.  Henry  Corbin 
were  directed  to  write  to  Richard  Perrott,  then  in  England,  for  a 
minister.  Measures  were  also  taken  for  the  purchase  of  a  glebe. 
In  the  year  1668  it  was  agreed  to  employ  the  Rev.  Mr.  Shephard 
for  six  months.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  was  chosen  for  twelve 
months,  and  so  on  until  the  year  1671,  when  he  was  elected  as 
rector  for  the  future.  Mr.  Shephard  continued  their  minister  until 
his  death,  in  1683.  The  following  extracts  from  the  proceedings 
of  the  vestry  will  show  their  estimate  of  his  character,  and  their 
desire  for  a  worthy  successor : — 

"  It  is  ordered  by  this  present  vestry,  that,  whereas  it  hath  pleased 
Almighty  God  to  take  out  of  this  life  Mr.  John  Shephard,  our  late  worthy 
minister,  and  this  vestry  and  the  whole  parish  desiring  to  have  his  place 
supplied  with  a  gentleman  of  good  life  and  doctrine,  and  a  true  son  of  the 
Church  of  England, — and  they  knowing  of  none  such  at  present  in  this 
country  but  have  benefices, — it  is,  therefore,  unanimously  agreed  by  the 
vestry,  that  the  Hon.  Ralph  Worinley,  Esq.,  and  Mr.  Robert  Smith,  be 
desired  and  empowered  to  write  in  the  name  of  this  vestry  to  the  Hon.  the 
Lady  Agatha  Chichely  and  Major-General  Robert  Smith, — who,  it  is  hoped, 
are  now  safe  in  London, — to  request  them,  or  either  of  them,  that  they  will 
please  to  take  the  trouble  to  procure  a  fit  minister  in  England  to  come  over 
and  supply  the  place  of  Mr.  Shephard ;  and  for  whose  better  encourage- 
ment this  vestry  do  promise,  and  accordingly  resolve,  that  they  will  enter- 
tain no  minister  in  the  said  parish,  except  for  the  present  time  only,  until 
they  have  an  answer  from  those  honourable  persons;  and  that  they  will 
willingly  accept  and  receive  into  this  parish  such  minister  as  they  shall 
persuade  to  come  and  recommend  to  this  vestry;  and  that  such  minister 
shall  have,  beside  the  glebe-land  and  plantation,  (which  contains  four  hun- 
dred acres  of  land,)  the  sum  of  sixteen  thousand  pounds  of  tobacco  and 
caske,  yearly  paid  him  by  this  parish,  besides  all  perquisites  and  other 
profits  which  have  been  enjoyed  by  our  said  worthy  minister,  Mr.  John 
Shephard/' 


1 

358  OLD   CHUECHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

In  the  interval  between  the  death  of  Mr.  Shephard  and  his  suc- 
cessor, the  parish  was  supplied  by  the  Revs.  Mr.  Superiors  and  Mr. 
Davis.  In  November  of  that  year,  Major- General  Robert  Smith 
appears  on  the  vestry-book,  having  returned  from  England  and 
brought  with  him  the  Rev.  Duell  Read,  who  was  chosen  their 
minister  for  one  year;  and  in  proof  that  the  earnest  desire  and 
endeavour  of  the  vestry  were  rewarded  of  God,  by  sending  a 
faithful  minister,  I  adduce  the  following  extract  from  the  vestry- 
book  the  year  after  his  entrance  on  the  ministry : — 

"Memorandum: — That  the  Rev.  Duell  Read,  our  present  minister,  out 
of  his  pious  intentions  to  the  good  of  the  souls  of  his  flock,  mentioned 
that  the  blessed  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  (too  much  neglected) 
might  for  the  future  be  more  frequently  administered  and  attended.  To 
this  intent,  he,  the  aforesaid  Mr.  Read,  propounded  the  monthly  observation 
thereof;  that  is  to  say,  on  the  first  Sunday  in  every  month  according  to 
course,  that  the  congregation  should  assemble  to  divine  service  at  the 
mother-church,  then  and  there  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
should  be  celebrated.  And,  moreover,  that  this  great  solemn  mystery 
might  as  well  worthily  as  frequently  be  observed,  he,  the  said  Mr.  Read, 
did  then  frankly  and  freely  promise  a  sermon  at  the  said  church  monthly; 
that  is  to  say,  on  the  Saturday,  in  the  afternoon,  for  the  guiding  the  com- 
munion,— not  doubting  that  all  parents  and  masters  of  families,  who  ponder 
the  everlasting  welfare  of  the  souls  committed  to  their  charge,  would  readily 
comply,  and  allow  convenient  liberty  to  their  children  and  servants  to  repair 
to  church  at  such  times,  there  to  be  instructed  and  prepared  for  this  re- 
ligious duty.  This  motion  was  then  thankfully  and  cheerfully  entertained 
by  the  present  vestry,  and  they  did  unanimously  concur  with  the  said 
Mr.  Read  therein." 

The  duty  of  more  frequent  communions  in  the  churches  of  Vir- 
ginia was  evident.  By  Act  of  Assembly,  which  was  only  the  re- 
newal of  one  of  the  canons  of  the  English  Church,  it  was  only 
required  that  the  sacrament  be  administered  twice  a  year  at  the 
parish  churches,  the  chapels  of  each  not  being  provided  for.  Even 
in  this  case  it  is  only  proposed  to  have  it  at  the  mother-church,  which 
was  about  midway  of  a  parish  forty  miles  in  length.  There  were 
two  chapels  or  churches  toward  either  end  of  the  county,  not  less, 
we  suppose,  than  twelve  or  fifteen  miles  distant  from  the  central 
one.  Those  communicants  who  lived  at  either  end  of  the  parish 
must  have  had  twenty  miles  to  travel  in  order  to  partake  of  the 
communion.  At  a  later  date  the  communion  was  administered  at 
all  the  churches.  Mr.  Read's  services  continued  seven  years, — at 
the  end  of  which  time  he  returned  to  England ;  cause  not  known. 
That  he  did  not  forget  his  parishioners  is  evident  from  the  following 
entry  on  the  vestry-book : — 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  359 

"  I,  Duell  Read,  late  of  Middlesex,  in  Virginia,  having  lived  in  the 
said  county  for  at  least  seven  years  past,  and  received  divers  kindnesses 
from  the  parishioners  thereof,  and  Almighty  God  in  his  great  goodness 
having  preserved  me  through  many  dangers  in  my  return  to  England,  and 
heing  most  kindly  received  by  my  Right  Honourable  and  Right  Rev. 
Henry  Lord  Bishop  of  London,  do,  in  point  of  gratitude  to  Almighty 
God  and  in  honour  for  the  Church  of  England,  freely  give  and  bestow,  for 
the  use  of  any  successors  in  the  said  parish,  four  milch-cows  and  calves, 
four  breeding  sows,  a  mare  and  colt,  to  be  delivered  on  the  glebe  of  said 
parish  to  the  next  incumbent,  he  to  enjoy  them  and  their  increase  for  his 
own  use,  and  leaving  the  like  number  and  quality  on  his  death  to  his  suc- 
cessors; humbly  requesting  my  aforesaid  Right  Rev.  Diocesan  to  give 
charge  to  his  Commissary  there  to  take  due  care  herein,  and  to  settle  it  in 
such  manner  as  to  him  shall  seem  fit,  according  to  the  true  intent  hereof. 

"  Witness  my  hand,  in  London,  this  12th  day  of  November,  in  the 
second  year  of  the  reign  of  our  Sovereign  Lord  and  Lady,  King  William 
and  Queen  Mary,  &c. 

"  DUELL  READ." 

Should  any  smile  at  the  value  and  character  of  the  bequests,  they 
should  remember  that  they  were,  in  all  probability,  his  whole  pro- 
perty, not  to  be  despised  until  the  widow's  mite  has  lost  its  value 
with  heaven.  Nor  were  they  so  valueless  as  some  might  suppose. 
In  those  days  a  few  such  animals  were  of  great  use  and  worth. 
In  proof  of  which  I  adduce  the  following  act  of  the  vestry  in  this 
parish,  in  the  year  1665 : — 

"  The  following  gentlemen,  vestrymen  of  the  parish, — viz. :  Henry 
Corbin,  Richard  Perrott,  Abraham  Weeks,  John  Hastewood,  Richard 
Cock,  Robert  Chewning,  agree,  each  of  them,  to  mark  one  cow-calf  with 
a  crop  in  the  right  ear,  to  be  kept  as  well  as  their  own  cattle  until  they  be 
two  years  old,  then  given  to  the  vestry  as  stock  for  the  parish." 

In  the  year  1692  the  Rev.  Matthew  Lidford  was  chosen  minister 
of  the  parish  for  one  year,  but  soon  died.  He  was  succeeded  by 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Gray,  who  agreed,  in  1698,  to  relinquish,  for  a  certain 
amount  of  tobacco,  all  claim  on  the  parish  arising  from  his  induc- 
tion. Mr.  Gray  was  a  most  unworthy  minister.  The  records  of 
the  court  show  him  to  have  been  much  engaged  in  lawsuits, — either 
suing  or  being  sued  for  property.  At  length  he  caused  the  death 
of  one  of  his  slaves,  by  severe  whipping,  and  was  tried  for  his  life. 
This,  it  is  presumed,  was  the  occasion  of  his  resignation. 

In  the  year  1699  the  Rev.  Robert  Yates  is  minister,  and  con- 
tinues so  until  the  year  1703  or  1704,  when  he  returned  to  Eng- 
land in  ill  health.  He  appears  to  have  been  esteemed  by  his  vestry, 
who  continued  his  salary  for  some  time  in  the  hope  of  his  return. 
The  Rev.  Bartholomew  Yates  (believed  to  be  his  son)  succeeded 


I 

360  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

him.  After  eighteen  yfears  of  faithful  service,  the  parish  of  York- 
Hampton,  a  more  desirable  one,  endeavoured  to  obtain  his  services. 
The  vestry  of  Middlesex,  however,  raised  his  salary  to  twenty 
thousand  pounds  of  tobacco,  and  enlarged  and  improved  his  house. 
The  following  entry  shows  that,  in  order  to  raise  his  salary,  they 
thought  it  necessary  to  make  application  to  the  Legislature : — 

"  To  the  Honourable  the  General  Assembly : — 

"  The  humble  petition  of  the  vestry  held  for  Christ  Church  parish  the 
7th  day  of  May,  1722,  showeth  that  this  vestry,  taking  into  consideration 
the  great  satisfaction  given  to  this  parish  for  about  eighteen  years,  and  the 
general  good  character  of  our  minister,  Mr.  Bartholomew  Yates,  which  we 
are  apprehensive  has  induced  some  other  parishes  to  entertain  thoughts 
of  endeavouring  to  prevail  with  him  to  quit  this  parish  for  some  of  those 
more  convenient,  humbly  pray  they  may  be  enabled  to  make  use  of  such 
measures  as  may  be  proper  and  reasonable  to  secure  so  great  a  good  to 
the  parish. 

"  And  they  shall  pray,  &c. 

"  JOHN  ROBINSON." 

Such  were  the  manifestations  of  regard  for  him  that  he  continued 
their  minister  until  his  death,  in  1734,  being  more  than  thirty-one 
years  their  pastor.  Having  sons  in  England  at  college,  the  vestry 
waited  for  two  years  until  his  son  Bartholomew  was  ordained.  In 
the  interval  the  parish  was  served  by  the  Revs.  John  Reade  and 
Emanuel  Jones,  from  neighbouring  parishes.  He  served  them 
until  the  year  1767.  In  1758,  we  also  find  the  Rev.  William 
Yates  and  the  Rev.  Robert  Yates,  ministers  of  the  adjoining 
parishes  of  Petsworth  and  Abington,  in  Gloucester  county,  be- 
lieved to  be  either  sons  or  grandsons  of  the  elder  Bartholomew 
Yates,  and  grandsons  or  great-grandsons  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Yates. 
All  of  them  are  believed  to  have  been  worthy  ministers  of  the 
Gospel.  They  have  been  often  quoted  as  proof  that  there  were 
some  deserving  ones  among  the  old  clergy  of  Virginia,  and  that 
ministers'  sons  are  not  always  the  worst  in  the  parish,  as  some 
enemies  of  religion  say.  A  large  tombstone  was  placed,  by  the 
parishioners,  over  the  grave  of  the  elder  Bartholomew  Yates, 
which  is  still  in  good  order  and  the  inscription  legible.  It  is  as 
follows  : — 

"  Here  lie  the  remains  of  the  Rev.  Bartholomew  Yates,  who  departed  this 
life  the  26th  day  of  July,  1734,  in  the  fifty-seventh  year  of  his  age.  He 
was ^ one  of  the  visitors  of  William  and  Mary  College,  as  also  Professor  of 
Divinity  in  that  Royal  Foundation.  In  the  conscientious  discharge  of  his 
duty  few  ever  equalled  him,  none  ever  surpassed  him.  He  explained  the 
doctrine  by  his  practice,  and  taught  and  led  the  way  to  heaven.  Cheer- 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  361 

fulness — the  result  of  innocence — always  sparkled  in  his  face,  and,  by  the 
sweetness  of  ^  his  temper,  he  gained  universal  good- will.  His  consort 
enjoyed  in  him  a  tender  husband,  his  children  an  indulgent  father,  his 
servants  a  gentle  master,  his  acquaintance  a  faithful  friend.  He  was 
minister  of  this  parish  upward  of  thirty  years;  and,  to  perpetuate  his 
memory,  this  monument  is  erected  at  the  charge  of  his  friends  and 
parishioners." 

The  descendants  of  Mr.  Yates  are  numerous,  and  scattered  over 
the  State.  One  of  them — the  late  Mr.  Yates,  of  Jefferson  county, 
Virginia — charged  all  his  children  in  turn  to  protect  and  preserve 
this  tomb. 

The  Rev.  John  Klug  succeeded  to  Mr.  Yates  in  1767,  and,  it  is 
believed,  continued  until  his  death,  in  1795.  •  His  name  appears  on 
the  list  of  delegates  to  the  two  first  Conventions  of  the  Church  in 
Virginia,  in  1785  and  1786.  He  is  represented  to  have  been  a 
pious  and  efficient  minister.  He  was  followed  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Heffernon,  who  was  a  dishonour  to  the  Church  for  eighteen  years. 
To  him  I  have  alluded  in  my  first  article.  He  married  into  one 
of  the  most  respectable  families  of  that  part  of  Virginia,  but, 
happily,  left  no  posterity  to  be  ashamed  of  their  father's  name, 
which  was  a  by-word  and  proverb  at  that  day,,  and  continues  so  to 
the  present  time.  Hunting,  gambling,  drinking,  were  his  constant 
occupations.  I  have  before  me  the  following  copy  of  an  extract 
of  the  will  of  Mr.  William  Churchill,  in  1711:— 

"  I  give  £100  sterling  to  the  vestry  of  Christ  Church  parish  in  Middle- 
sex, which  said  £100  I  would  have  put  to  interest,  and  the  interest- 
money  to  be  given  to  the  minister  for  preaching  four  quarterly  sermons 
yearly,  against  the  four  reigning  vices, — viz. :  atheism  and  irreligion, 
swearing  and  cursing,  fornication  and  adultery,  and  drunkenness ;  and 
this  I  would  have  done  forever.  I  give  to  the  said  parish  and  vestry 
aforesaid  £25  sterling,  to  be  put  to  interest,  and  the  interest-money  to  be 
given  yearly  to  the  clerk  and  sexton  attending  said  sermon."* 

Mr.  Heffernon,  with  all  his  vices,  preached — or  professed  to 
preach — these  sermons  in  one  of  the  churches,  and  received  the 
benefit  of  this  bequest.  I  have  often  heard  old  Mr.  Nelson,  my 
father-in-law,  say  that  the  last  time  he  saw  Mr.  Heffernon  was  in 

*  By  atheism  we  must  not  understand  a  denial  of  the  existence  of  a  God,  but  rather 
irreligion, — a  living  without  God  in  the  world;  for,  at  this  time,  infidelity  was  un- 
known in  the  Colony.  In  the  year  1724— thirteen  years  later— the  clergy  informed 
the  Bishop  of  London  that  there  were  no  infidels  in  Virginia  but  Indians  and  ne- 
groes. When  the  first  infidel  book  was  imported  into  Virginia,  after  the  year  1730, 
it  produced  such  an  excitement  that  the  Governor  and  Commissary  communicated 
on  the  subject  with  the  authorities  in  England. 


362  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

a  tavern-porch  in  Urbantia,  reeling  to  and  fro  with  a  bowl  of  toddy 
in  his  hand,  inviting  the  passers-by  to  come  and  drink  with  him.* 
From  the  year  1813 — the  time  of  Mr.  Heffernon's  death — no 
effort  was  made  to  have  any  services  in  that  church.  Indeed,  it 
is  presumed  that  there  were  none  for  many  years  before  his  death. 
The  prostration  of  the  church  seemed  to  be  complete.  There  was, 
however,  a  kind  of  farce  following  that  sad  tragedy,  to  which  I 
must  refer.  In  the  year  1836,  at  the  Convention  in  Fredericks- 
burg,  a  person  calling  himself  Robinson,  and  professing  to  be  a 
minister  of  the  Episcopal  Church  of  England,  presented  himself 
to  Bishop  Moore  and  myself,  and  produced  some  worn  and  dingy 
papers,  purporting  to  be  letters  of  Orders.  We  neither  of  us  were 
pleased  either  with  him  or  his  papers.  Bishop  Moore  soon  turned 
him  over  to  me.  He  expressed  a  wish  to  unite  with  the  Church  in 
Virginia;  said  that  he  did  not  care  for  salary,  being  in  abundant 
circumstances ;  that  he  wished  to  settle  in  some  good  society,  and 
not  far  from  the  ocean;  that  he  had  some  of  the  best  English 
breed  of  sheep  and  Durham  cattle,  and  wished  to  purchase  a 
farm.  I  told  him  plainly  my  opinion  as  to  his  course  of  duty; 
that,  if  he  wished  to  be  useful  in  the  ministry,  he  had  better  dis- 
pose of  his  cattle  and  engage  earnestly  in  the  duties  of  it.  He 
expressed  surprise  that  I  should  seem  to  think  an  attention  to  fine 
cattle  inconsistent  with  the  duties  of  the  ministry,  and  spoke  of 
one  or  more  of  the  English  Bishops  who  were  great  patrons  of 
cattle.  We  soon  parted,  mutually  dissatisfied  with  each  other,  and 
I  never  met  him  again.  He  took  a  fancy  to  the  lower  part  of 
Middlesex,  in  sight  of  the  bay,  bought  or  rented  a  farm  there,  and 
moved  some  cattle  to  it,  I  believe.  He  had  quite  a  library  and  a 
great  deal  of  English  plate.  He  invited  company,  and  entertained 
at  late  fashionable  hours.  He  also  preached,  either  at  some  old 
church  or  the  court-house.  His  robes  were  those  of  English  Fel- 
lows or  Doctors,  having  several  pieces  of  different  colours,  besides 
the  gown  and  surplice.  The  same  dress,  I  am  told,  he  used  when 
performing  the  service  at  the  White  Sulphur  Springs,  in  Western 
Virginia,  making  changes  in  it  during  the  service.  How  long  he 
continued  in  Virginia  I  know  not;  but,  determining  on  a  visit  to 
England,  he  wrote  me  a  long  letter,  containing  many  questions 
concerning  the  Church  in  America,  which  he  said  would  doubtless 


*  What  became  of  that  fund  I  have  not  yet  been  able  to  ascertain.  It  ought  to 
be  carefully  inquired  for,  and  sacredly  applied  according  to  the  will  of  the  testator. 
Surely  the  overseers  of  the  poor  could  not  have  claimed  this  ? 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  363 

be  proposed  on  his  return  to  England,  and  to  which  he  wished  for 
answers.  My  reply  to  him  was  very  short,  and  such  as  he  would 
take  care  not  to  show.  A  few  months  after  this,  we  received  intelli- 
gence that  he  was  taken  up  as  an  impostor  and  swindler  in  Liver- 
pool, and  was  then  on  his  way  to  Botany  Bay.  All  that  he  had 
brought  with  him  to  America  was  stolen,  and  he  went  back  to  re- 
plenish his  treasury,  and  had  wellnigh,  by  a  forged  note,  robbed 
the  bank  at  Liverpool  of  a  very  large  sum  of  money.  Indeed,  he 
had  it  in  his  possession,  and  was  on  the  point  of  sailing  to  Ame- 
rica, when  pursued  and  overtaken.  This  closes,  I  hope,  forever, 
the  disgrace  of  the  Church  in  Middlesex.  Henceforth  we  look  for 
better  times.  But  before  we  enter  upon  those  I  wish  to  add  some- 
thing concerning  the  laity  of  the  old  Middlesex  parish. 

P.S. — A  recent  communication  states  that  this  impostor  got 
away  from  his  place  of  exile  and  reached  California,  where  he 
died  a  few  years  since. 


$ 
364  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 


ARTICLE  XXXII. 

Parishes  in  Middlesex. — No.  2. 

HITHERTO  we  have  been  entirely  occupied  with  the  history  of 
the  clergy  of  this  county.  This  being  an  early  settlement, 
lying  on  one  of  the  finest  rivers  in  Virginia,  and  near  the 
bay,  we  might  expect  to  find  here  many  of  the  ancestors  of 
some  of  the  most  respectable  families  of  Virginia.  As  the  ves- 
trymen were  chosen  from  the  leading  citizens  of  each  parish,  we 
shall  give,  in  the  order  in  which  they  appear  on  the  vestry-book 
for  more  than  one  hundred  years,  a  full  list  of  all  who  served  the 
parish  in  that  capacity.  Those  who  have  any  acquaintance  with 
the  Virginia  families,  and  with  many  who  have  dispersed  them- 
selves throughout  the  West  and  South,  will  readily  trace  great 
numbers  to  the  parish  of  which  we  are  treating.  For  the  sake  of 
brevity  we  shall  only  mention  the  surnames,  and  afterward  be  more 
specific  as  to  a  few  of  them.  Corbin,  Perrott,  Chewning,  Potter, 
Vause,  Weeks,  Willis,  Cock,  Curtis,  Smith,  Dudley,  Thacher,  Skip- 
with,  Beverley,  Wormley,  Jones,  Miller,  Scarborough,  Woodley, 
Whitaker,  Kobinson,  Warwick,  Gordon,  Chichester,  Midge,  Church- 
ill, Burnham,  Wormley  2d,  Kemp,  Smith  2d,  Cary,  Dudley  2d, 
Smith  3d,  Daniel,  Price,  Mann,  Seager,  Vause  2d,  Cock  2d,  Cant, 
Skipwith  2d,  Wormley  3d,  Thacher  2d,  Grimes,  Beverley  2d,  Kil- 
bee,  Kemp  2d,  Corbin  2d,  Robinson  2d,  Walker,  Jones  2d,  Wormley 
4th,  Stanard,  Churchill  2d,  Robinson  3d,  Walker  2d,  Robinson  4th, 
Hardin,  Wormley  5th,  Corbin  3d,  Smith  4th,  Grymes  2d,  Stanard 
2d,  Reid,  Carter  2d,  Elliot,  Miles,  Montague,  Grymes  3d,  Nelson, 
Smith  5th.  (The  figures  2,  3,  4,  5  signify  how  many  of  the  same 
name  and  family  held  the  office  of  vestrymen  at  different  times. 
They  were  probably  sons,  grandsons,  &c.)  The  old  English  aristo- 
cracy is  apparent  on  the  vestry-books.  Sir  Henry  Chichely,  Baronet 
and  Knight,  (he  was  once  Deputy-Governor  of  Virginia,)  Sir  William 
Skipwith,  Baronet  and  Knight,  appear  always  at  the  head  of  the 
vestrymen  as  written  in  the  vestry-books,  these  titles  giving  them 
the  precedence.  They  appear  to  have  been  active  and  liberal,  giving 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  365 

land  and  plate  to  the  churches.  John  Grymes  and  Edmund  Berkeley 
appear  to  have  been  churchwardens  for  a  longer  period  than  any 
others.  The  Thackers  and  Robinsons  were  also  constant  attendants 
and  active  churchwardens  for  a  long  time.  So  also  the  Smiths, 
Churchills,  Curtises,  Corbins,  and  Beverleys.  Many  of  the  above- 
mentioned  vestrymen  were  members  of  the  Council,  and  held  other 
offices  in  the  Colonial  Government.  The  first  Beverley  on  the  list 
was  the  celebrated  Robert  Beverley,  so  noted  in  the  early  history  of 
Virginia  as  a  martyr  in  the  cause  of  liberty.  He  was  Clerk  to  the 
House  of  Burgesses,  and  father  of  Robert  Beverley,  the  historian  of 
Virginia,  and  ancestor  of  the  other  Beverleys.  There  were  always 
three  lay  readers,  one  to  each  of  the  churches, — the  middle  or  mother, 
or  Great  Church,  and  the  upper  and  lower.  We  read  the  names  of 
Chewning,  Baldwin,  and  Stevens,  among  the  lay  readers.  They 
were  required  not  only  to  read  Homilies,  but  to  catechize  the  chil- 
dren and  see  that  every  thing  about  the  churches  was  kept  clean 
and  in  order,  that  the  leaves  around  the  churches  (which  were  built 
in  the  woods)  should  be  burnt,  in  order  to  preserve  the  churches 
from  being  destroyed  by  some  of  the  great  fires  which  were  common 
in  the  woods.  It  was  not  always  easy  to  get  suitable  persons  as 
lay  readers.  We  find  at  one  meeting  an  express  act  of  the  vestry, 
requiring  that  they  be  sober  and  reputable  men ;  and  this  was  only 
an  echo  of  the  Act  of  Assembly.  Complaints  appear  on  the  vestry- 
books  of  the  irregular  attendance  of  the  members,  and  a  fine  was 
imposed  of  so  much  tobacco  for  each  failure.  The  vestry  appear 
on  several  occasions  to  have  taxed  themselves  with  something  extra 
for  the  clergyman,  though  for  every  thing  done  and  furnished  for 
the  church,  even  the  wealthiest  made  charges,  as  for  communion- 
wine,  putting  up  a  horse-block,  &c.  The  duties  of  the  vestrymen 
were  to  see  that  the  salaries  of  the  ministers  be  collected,  which 
was  no  easy  matter,  seeing  that  it  must  be  gotten  from  the  whole 
country.  They  also  took  care  of  the  poor,  of  orphan  and  ille- 
gitimate children,  imposed  fines,  and  appointed  persons  to  procession 
the  lands, — that  is,  renew  the  landmarks  from  time  to  time.  Certain 
ofiences  against  good  morals  were  sometimes  punished  by  them.  In 
one  instance  a  lady  of  respectable  family  was  fined  five  hundred- 
weight of  tobacco  for  breaking  the  seventh  commandment.*  The 

*  It  is  due  to  these  times  to  say  that  the  courts  and  juries  were  not  entirely 
negligent  of  their  duties,  but  sometimes  set  examples  which  those  of  our  day 
would  do  well  to  follow.  The  following  extracts  from  the  presentments  of  a  Grand 
Jury  of  Middlesex  in  1704  are  proofs  of  this : — 


366  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  AND 

greatest  difficulty  which'they  appear  to  have  had  was  with  the  hired 
servants,  of  whom,  at  an  early  period,  great  numbers  came  over  to 
this  country,  binding  themselves  to  the  richer  families.  The  num- 
ber of  illegitimate  children  born  of  them  and  thrown  upon  the 
parish  led  to  much  action  on  the  part  of  the  vestries  and  the  legis- 
lature. The  lower  order  of  persons  in  Virginia,  in  a  great  measure, 
sprang  from  those  apprenticed  servants  and  from  poor  exiled  culprits. 
It  is  not  wonderful  that  there  should  have  been  much  debasement 
of  character  among  the  poorest  population,  and  that  the  negroes 
of  the  first  families  should  always  have  considered  themselves  a 
more  respectable  class.  To  this  day  there  are  many  who  look  upon 
poor  white  folks  (for  so  they  call  them)  as  much  beneath  themselves ; 
and,  in  truth,  they  are  so  in  many  respects.  The  churchwardens 
in  this  parish,  among  other  things,  were  directed  to  assign  seats  in 
the  churches  to  the  different  families,  which  they  no  doubt  did  with 
some  reference  to  family  and  wealth,  as  in  England.  Mr.  Matthew 
Kemp,  as  churchwarden,  received  the  commendation  of  the  vestry 
for  displacing  an  unworthy  woman,  who  insisted  on  taking  a  pew 
above  her  degree.  Four  of  the  families  of  Wormley,  Grymes, 
Churchill,  and  Berkeley,  obtained  leave  of  the  vestry  to  put  an 
addition  of  twenty  feet  square  to  one  of  the  churches  (the  lower 
one)  for  their  special  use.  It  was  very  common,  as  we  shall  see 
hereafter,  for  certain  families  to  build  galleries  for  themselves  after 
the  manner  of  their  forefathers  in  England,  and  it  was  hard  some- 
times to  dislodge  their  descendants,  even  when  their  position  was 
uncomfortable  and  not  very  safe.  There  was  one  very  important 
duty  which  the  vestries  had  to  perform,  and  which  was  sometimes 
a  subject  of  dispute  between  them  and  the  Governor  of  Virginia, — 
viz. :  to  maintain  their  rights,  as  representing  the  people,  in  the 
choice  and  settlement  of  ministers.  In  the  English  Church  the 
congregation  have  no  part  in  the  choice  of  their  ministers.  Patrons 
appoint  them,  and  livings  support  them.  In  Virginia,  as  the  salary 
was  drawn  directly  from  the  people  by  the  vestries,  the  vestries 
sometimes  claimed  not  only  the  right  to  choose  the  ministers,  but 
to  turn  them  away  at  pleasure.  In  the  absence  of  Bishops  and 

"  1st.  We  present  Thomas  Sims  for  travelling  on  the  road  on  the  Sabbath-day 
with  a  loaded  beast. 

"2d.  We  present  William  Montague  and  Garrett  Minor  for  bringing  oysters 
ashore  on  the  Sabbath-day. 

"  3d.  We  present  James  Lewis  for  swearing  and  cursing  on  the  Sabbath-day. 

"Ordered,  That  John  Hutney  be  fined  according  to  law  for  being  drunk  on  the 
Sabbath-day." 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  367 

canons  to  try  the  ministers,  it  is  evident  that  there  would  be  a  strong 
temptation  on  the  part  of  the  vestries  to  act  arbitrarily  if  the  power 
was  entirely  vested  in  them.  To  prevent  this,  the  Governor  claimed 
to  be  the  ordinary,  and  to  act  as  Bishop  in  relation  to  this  point. 
He,  appealing  to  an  English  canon,  allowed  the  vestries  the  right 
of  choosing  their  minister  and  presenting  to  him  for  induction. 
Being  inducted,  the  minister  could  not  be  displaced  by  the  vestry : 
he  had  a  right  to  the  salary,  and  might  enforce  it  by  an  appeal  to 
law,  unless,  indeed,  for  misconduct,  he  could  be  deprived  by  some 
difficult  and  tedious  process  under  the  direction  of  the  Governor. 
Should  the  vestry  not  appoint  a  minister  within  six  months  after 
a  vacancy,  then  the  Governor  might  send  one,  and  induct  him  as 
the  permanent  minister,  not  to  be  removed  by  the  vestry.  The 
Governor  of  Virginia  in  1703,  Mr.  Nicholson,  at  the  time  about 
which  I  am  writing,  maintained  also  that  he  had  a  right  to  send  a 
temporary  supply  to  any  parish  immediately  on  the  occurrence  of 
a  vacancy,  which  supply  might  be  superseded  by  one  of  their  own 
choice  within  the  six  months.  It  is  the  same  power  which  some 
have  proposed  to  vest  in  our  Bishops  in  relation  to  a  temporary 
supply  of  vacant  parishes.  It  is  evident  that  such  a  power  would 
very  much  interfere  with  the  free  choice  of  ministers  by  the  vestries, 
since  the  minister  thus  sent  as  the  supply  would  have  a  great  ad- 
vantage over  others  who  might  be  obtained.  To  refuse  him  after 
trial  would  be  to  condemn  the  choice  of  the  Bishop,  and  be  an  of- 
fence to  himself.  The  above  is  the  view  taken  of  the  relative 
power  of  the  vestry  and  Governor,  in  an  opinion  of  the  Queen's 
Attorney-General,  Mr.  Edward  Northy,  which  was  sent  by  the 
Governor  to  all  the  vestries  of  the  Church,  and  directed  to  be  put 
on  record.*  The  action  of  the  vestries  uniformly  show  their  deter- 
mination to  defend  themselves  as  well  as  they  could  against  the 
evils  consequent  upon  such  a  construction  of  the  law.  As  to  the 
immediate  temporary  supply  of  the  vacancies,  that  does  not  appear 
to  have  been  attempted  by  the  Governor,  although  the  right  was 
claimed.  In  order  to  prevent  the  minister  being  suddenly  inducted 
and  put  upon  them  for  life,  (whether  one  of  their  own  choice  or 
of  the  Governor,)  who  might  soon  prove  unworthy,  while  in  reality 
there  was  no  method  of  getting  rid  of  him,  since  no  civil  Governor 

*  Beverley,  in  his  History,  expresses  the  following  opinion  of  Governor  Nicholson: — 
"  And  lastly,  Governor  Nicholson,  a  man  the  least  acquainted  with  the  law  of 
any  of  them,  endeavoured  to  introduce  all  the  quirks  of  the  English  proceedings, 
by  the  help  of  some  wretched  pettifoggers,  who  had  the  direction  both  of  his  con- 
science and  his  understanding." 


368  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

could  depose  a  minister;  the  vestries  fell  upon  the  expedient  of  em- 
ploying ministers  for  a  limited  time,  generally  twelve  months, 
sometimes  less,  repeating  the  same  again  and  again  until  they  were 
sufficiently  satisfied  of  their  worthiness  and  suitableness,  and  then 
of  presenting  him  to  the  Governor  for  induction  and  permanent 
settlement.  Against  this  there  was  no  law,  and  the  Governor 
acquiesced  in  it.  And  who  can  blame  them  for  adopting  such  a 
course  ?  Bad  as  the  state  of  things  was  even  under  that  wise  pre- 
caution, how  much  worse  would  it  have  been,  if  the  choice  of  the 
vestry  or  the  appointment  of  the  Governor,  after  such  a  slight 
acquaintance  as  either  of  them  were  likely  to  have  with  foreigners, 
must  be  perpetuated  for  better  for  worse,  even  as  the  marriages  of 
some  in  that  day,  who  imported  their  wives  from  England  without 
knowing  them  !  It  is  but  justice  to  the  vestries  to  say,  that  as  a 
general  thing,  when  they  secured  the  services  of  a  respectable 
minister,  they  retained  him  during  life.  Although  I  shall  shortly 
show  one  instance  to  the  contrary,  I  shall  also  show  a  number  in 
confirmation  of  it.  It  is  also  due  to  the  vestries  to  say,  that,  in. 
compliance  with  the  decision  of  the  Governor,  they  always  allowed 
to  the  ministers  who  were  not  inducted  the  same  rights,  perquisites, 
and  privileges  with  those  who  were  inducted.  This  principle  is,  I 
believe,  confirmed  by  one  of  the  canons  of  our  General  Convention. 
If  now  it  be  asked  what  was  the  state  of  morals  and  religion  in 
the  parish  where  the  leading  men,  the  nobility  and  the  gentry,  took 
such  an  active  part  in  support  of  the  public  service  of  God,  and 
when  the  moral  character  of  the  ministers  appears  to  have  been 
good,  whatever  may  have  been  the  substance  and  style  of  their 
preaching,  I  must  point  to  the  fact  that  a  pious  man,  Mr.  William 
Churchill,  being  a  churchwarden,  by  his  last  will,  in  the  year  1711, 
left  a  sum  of  money,  whose  interest  was  to  be  used  for  the  encou- 
ragement of  the  minister  to  preach  "against  the  four  reigning  vices 
of  atheism  and  irreligion,  of  swearing  and  cursing,  fornication  and 
adultery,  and  drunkenness."  They  must  have  been  prevalent  in 
that  day  to  have  prompted  such  a  bequest.  That  they  increased 
more  and  more,  even  to  the  time  of  the  French  Revolution,  is  but 
too  probable.  It  was  so  with  all  ranks  of  the  community.  The 
seats  of  the  rich  and  the  educated  were  the  scenes  of  a  more  refined 
voluptuousness,  while  many  of .  the  abodes  of  the  poor  were  filled 
with  the  lowest  vices.  And  what  has  been  the  end  of  these  things? 
But  for  the  uneducated  and  sometimes  fanatical  ministers,  who,  in 
the  providence  of  God,  were  after  a  time  permitted  to  preach  the 
Gospel  to  the  poor  in  Middlesex,  where  would  have  been  the  Church 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  369 

of  God  in  that  region,  during  a  long,  dark  period?  What  has 
become  of  the  old  Episcopal  families,  the  Skipwiths,  Wormleys, 
Grymeses,  Churchills,  Robinsons,  Berkeleys,  and  others?  What 
has  become  of,  or  who  owns,  those  mansions  where  were  the  volup- 
tuous feasts,  the  sparkling  wine,  the  flowing  bowl,  the  viol  and  the 
dance  and  the  card-table,  and  the  dogs  for  the  chase,  and  the 
horses  for  the  turf?  I  am  told,  and  I  believe  it,  that  the  whole  of 
that  county  was  at  one  time  in  possession  of  some  few  of  these  old 
families,  and  that  now  not  a  rood  of  it  is  owned  by  one  of  their 
name,  and  scarcely  by  one  in  whom  is  a  remnant  of  their  blood. 
Old  Brandon,  the  seat  of  my  maternal  ancestors,  the  Grymeses,  is 
gone,  except  a  small  part  of  it.  Rosegill,  where  the  Wormleys 
lived  in  English  state,  has  passed  from  hand  to  hand,  and  is  re- 
duced to  less  than  half  its  size.  Even  the  places  of  many  others 
cannot  now  be  found.  The  ploughshare  has  been  over  them,  as  it 
has  been  over  the  ruins  of  many  an  old  church  in  Virginia.  But 
still  there  were  good  and  holy  men  and  women  there,  in  whom  the 
spirit  of  the  Gospel  and  of  the  Prayer  Book  reigned,  and  that  spirit 
has  possessed  many  of  their  exiled  posterity.  While  some  of  the 
descendants  of  those  whose  names  I  have  recorded  have  been  but 
too  well  known  in  Virginia  as  unworthy,  there  have  been  a  good 
number  of  both  sexes  who  have  proved  themselves  to  be  an  honour 
to  the  State,  and  active  agents  in  rebuilding  the  Church  of  their 
fathers.  Old  Middlesex,  too,  once  about  to  be  deserted  of  its  in- 
habitants by  reason  of  disease,  exhaustion,  and  barrenness,  has  of 
late  years  entered  upon  a  new  and  unexpected  career.  Resting  as 
it  were  on  a  bed  of  richest  marl,  her  agriculture  has  been  revolu- 
tionized, and  she  bids  fair  one  day,  and  that  not  a  distant  one,  to 
compare  with  some  of  the  fairest  portions  of  our  land.  And  what 
has  become  of  the  old  Mother-Church — the  Great  Church,  as  she  is 
styled  in  her  journal — standing  in  view  of  the  wide  Rappahannock, 
midway  between  Rosegill  and  Brandon  ?  More  perhaps  than  fifty 
years  ago  it  was  deserted.  Its  roof  decayed  and  fell  in.  Every 
thing  within  it  returned  to  its  native  dust.  But  nature  abhors  a 
vacuum.  A  sycamore-tree  sprung  up  within  its  walls.  All  know 
the  rapidity  of  that  tree's  growth.  It  filled  the  void.  Its  boughs 
soon  rose  above  and  overspread  the  walls.  In  the  year  1840,  when 
it  pleased  God  to  put  it  into  the  hearts  of  some,  in  whom  the  spirit 
of  old  Virginia  Episcopalians  still  remained,  to  seek  the  revival  of 
the  Church's  dry  bones  in  Middlesex,  that  huge,  overspreading  tree 
must  first  be  removed  piecemeal  from  the  house,  and  the  rich  mould 
of  fifty  years'  accumulation,  to  the  depth  of  two  feet,  must  be  dug 


$ 

370  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  AND 

up,  before  the  chancel-floor  and  the  stone  aisles  could  be  reached. 
The  walls — faithful  workmanship  of  other  days — were  uninjured,  and 
may  still  remain  while  generations  of  frail  modern  structures  pass 
away.  The  house  is  now  one  of  our  best  country-churches.  The 
graves  of  our  ancestors  are  all  around  it.  In  scattered  fragments 
some  of  the  tombstones  lie ;  others,  too  substantial  to  be  broken,  too 
heavy  to  be  borne  away,  now  plainly  tell  whose  remains  are  protected 
by  them.  To  the  attention  and  kindness  of  a  young  female  near 
the  spot,  I  am  indebted  for  the  following  inscription,  selected  from 
many  others,  and  which  will  not  be  without  interest  to  some  Vir- 
ginians, and  to  others  who  have  long  since  left  the  old  homes  of 
their  fathers  for  the  Far  South  or  West : 

EPITAPH  OF  MR.  JOHN  GRYMES.  * 

"Here  lies  interred  the  body  of  the  Honourable  John  Grymes,  Esq., 
who  for  many  years  acted  in  the  public  affairs  of  this  Dominion,  with 
honour,  fortitude,  fidelity  to  their  Majesties  King  George  I.  and  II.  Of 
the  Council  of  State,  of  the  Royal  Prerogative,  of  the  liberty  and  property 
of  the  subject,  a  zealous  asserter.  On  the  seat  of  judgment,  clear,  sound, 
unbiassed.  In  the  office  of  Receiver-General,  punctual,  approved.  Of  the 
College  of  William  and  Mary  an  ornament,  visitor,  patron.  Beneficent  to 
all,  a  pattern  of  true  piety.  Respected,  loved,  revered.  Lamented  by  his 
family,  acquaintance,  country.  He  departed  this  life  the  2d  day  of  No- 
vember, 1748,  in  the  57th  year  of  his  age."f 


*  Mr.  John  Grymes  was  the  grandfather  of  Mrs.  General  Nelson,  of  York,  and 
of  Mrs.  Susan  Burwell,  first  wife  of  Colonel  Nathaniel  Burwell,  of  Carter  Hall, 
Clarke  county,  Virginia,  all  now  deceased. 

f  In  connection  with  this  epitaph  on  Major  John  Grymes,  who  appears  to  have 
been  highly  esteemed  in  Church  and  State,  we  give  the  following  account  of  the 
family,  which  is  taken  from  tradition,  the  vestry-records,  and  some  registries  of 
"baptisms  and  marriages.  It  is  believed  that  Thomas  Grymes,  who  was  a  lieutenant- 
general  in  the  army  of  Cromwell,  was  the  father  of  the  first  Grymes  who  came  to 
Virginia ;  that  his  son  was  well  pleased  to  come  to  Virginia  after  the  fall  of  Crom- 
well and  the  restoration  of  monarchy,  and  there  is  a  tradition  that  he  even  made 
some  change  in  his  name  when  coming  to  this  loyal  Colony.  The  son's  name  was 
John,  who  appears  on  the  vestry-book  as  one  of  the  vestry  in  1694.  He  and  Anne 
his  wife  were  sponsors  to  a  child  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gray,  the  minister  in  1695  and 
1696.  They  lived  in  Middlesex,  near  to  Piankatank,  at  a  place  called  Grymesby 
to  this  day.  Their  tombstones  still  lie  in  an  open  field,  upon  the  ground,  and  the 
plougshare  sometimes  passes  over  them.  Although  the  family  has  long  since  parted 
with  the  place,  I  am  happy  to  say  that  it  is  in  contemplation  to  remove  the  monu- 
ments to  the  old  churchyard,  where  so  many  of  their  descendants  are  buried. 
This  John  Grymes  continued  to  act  as  vestryman  until  1708,  when  he  withdrew, — no 
doubt  from  old  age  or  infirmity,  as  he  died  not  long  after.  His  son  John,  whose 
epitaph  we  have  given,  was  born  in  1693,  and  became  a  vestryman  in  1711,  when 
only  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  continued  to  be  such  until  his  death  in  1748, — thirty- 
seven  years.  Whether  the  first  John  Grymes  had  other  children  besides  the  second 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  371 

The  following  have  also  been  sent  me : — 

"This  monument  is  erected  to  the  memory  of  Ralph  Wormley,  Esq., 
of  Rosegill,  who  died  on  the  19th  day  of  January,  1806,  in  the  62d  year 
of  his  age.  The  rules  of  honour  guided  the  actions  of  this  great  man.  He 

on  Christianity." 


ui  ms  age.    j.ne  ruies  01  nonour  guiaea  tne  actions  or  tnis  great  man.    He 
was  the  perfect  gentleman  and  finished  scholar,  with  many  virtues  founded 

-    ™  -  istiflTiif.Tr  "  * 


"Beneath  this  marble  lies  interred  the  remains  of  Mrs.  Eleanor  Worm- 
ley,  widow  of  Ralph  Wormley,  Esq.,  of  Rosegill,  and  sister  of  Col.  John 
Tayloe,  of  Mount  Airey,  who  died  the  23d  day  of  February,  1815,  in  the 
60th  year  of  her  age.  Few  women  were  more  eminently  distinguished  for 


John  does  not  certainly  appear ;  but  from  a  baptismal  registry  we  think  it  probable 
he  had  a  son  named  Charles,  as  one  of  that  name  had  a  child  baptized  in  1734. 

The  second  John  and  Lucy  his  wife  had  the  following  children  between  1720  and 
1733: — Lucy,  Philip,  Charles,  (who  died  early,)  Benjamin,  Sarah,  Charles,  Ludwell. 
Of  these,  Lucy  married  Carter  Burwell,  of  The  Grove,  near  Williamsburg ;  Philip 
married  Mary  Randolph,  daughter  of  Mr.  John  Randolph,  of  Williamsburg,  in  1742; 
and  Benjamin  married  Miss  Fitzhugh,  sister  of  William  Fitzhugh,  of  Chatham,  near 
Fredericksburg.  Lucy  was  the  mother  of  Mr.  Nathaniel  Burwell,  of  The  Grove, 
who  afterward  moved  to  Frederick. 

Philip  was  the  father  of  Lucy,  John,  (who  died  early,)  Philip  Ludwell,  John 
Randolph,  Charles,  Benjamin,  Susannah,  Mary,  Peyton,  and  Betty.  Lucy  married 
General  Thomas  Nelson ;  Philip  Ludwell  married,  first,  a  Miss  Randolph,  daughter 
of  John  Randolph  who  went  to  England,  but  had  no  children,  then  Miss  Wormley, 
by  whom  he  had  Mrs.  Sayres  and  others.  John  Randolph  Grymes  followed  Mr. 
John  Randolph  to  England  and  there  married  his  daughter.  Of  Charles  we  know 
nothing  certain.  Benjamin  married  Miss  Robinson,  of  King  William,  and  had  nu- 
merous children,  (names  of  all  not  known,)  of  whom  only  Peyton  Grymes,  of  Orange, 
and  one  sister,  survive.  Betty  married  Dr.  Pope.  Susannah,  Mr.  Nathaniel 
Burwell,  of  The  Grove,  and  afterward  of  Frederick.  Mary  married  Mr.  Robert 
Nelson,  of  Malvern  Hill,  brother  of  General  Nelson.  Benjamin,  the  son  of  the 
second  John  Grymes,  and  who  married  Miss  Fitzhugh,  settled  near  Fredericksburg 
and  had  large  iron-works.  He  was  the  father  of  Mrs.  Colonel  Meade,  of  Frederick, 
and  of  Captain  Benjamin  Grymes,  of  King  George,  by  his  first  wife ;  and,  by  a  second, 
of  Ludwell  Grymes,  Charles  Grymes,  Randolph  Grymes,  Mrs.  Wedderburne,  and 
Mrs.  Dudley. 

The  following  is  also  worthy  of  insertion : — 

11  Here  lyeth  the  body  of  Lucy  Berkliey,  who  departed  this  life  ye  16th  day  of  De- 
cember, 1716,  in  y*  33d  year  of  her  Age,  after  she  had  been  married  12  years  and 
15  days.  She  left  behind  her  5  children,  viz. :  2  Boys  and  3  Girls.  I  shall  not 
pretend  to  give  her  full  character:  it  would  take  too  much  room  for  a  Gravestone  : 
shall  only  say  she  never  neglected  her  duty  to  her  Creator  in  Publick  or  Private, 
she  was  Charitable  to  the  Poor,  a  Kind  Mistress,  an  Indulgent  Mother,  and  Obedient 
Wife.  She  never  in  all  the  time  she  lived  with  her  husband  gave  him  so  much  as 
once  cause  to  be  displeased  with  her." — Copied  from  a  tombstone  at  Barn  Elm, 
Middlesex. 

*  Mr.  Wormley  attended  a  number  of  the  Episcopal  Conventions  after  the  Revo- 
lution. After  his  death,  the  descendants  of  Colonel  Edmund  Berkeley  appear  to  be 
almost  all  that  remained  of  the  church.  That  family  preserved  the  vestry-book, 
from  which  I  have  obtained  the  foregoing  information. 


J 

372  OLD   CHUBCHES,   MINISTERS,    AND 

correctness  of  deportrnen*  and  for  the  practice  of  all  the  Christian  virtues : 
as  a  wife  she  was  conjugal,  as  a  widow  exemplary,  as  a  mother  fond  and 
affectionate,  as  a  neighbour  charitable  and  kind,  as  a  friend  steady  and 
sincere." 

There  were  also  buried  within  the  church  Sir  Henry  Chichely, 
Knight,  Deputy-Governor  of  Virginia  in  1682.  The  Rev.  John 
Shephard  in  the  same,  and  the  Honourable  Lady  Madam  Catharine 
Wormley,  wife  of  the  Honourable  Ralph  Wormley,  (the  first  Ralph 
Wormley,)  in  the  year  1685.  The  following  is  a  communication 
from  the  present  minister  of  our  partly-resuscitated  Church  in 
Middlesex,  (the  Rev.  Mr.  Carraway.) 

"  The  upper  and  lower  churches  or  chapels  are  still  standing.  One  of 
them  is  about  to  be  repaired  by  the  Baptists,  who  will  claim  the  chief 
though  not  exclusive  use  of  it.  The  lower  chapel  retains  some  appearance 
of  antiquity,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  to  destroy  every  vestige  of  Episcopal 
taste  and  usage.  The  high  pulpit  and  sounding-board  have  been  removed, 
and  the  reading-desk  placed  within  the  chancel,  before  which  is  the 
roughly-carved  chest  that  formerly  held  the  plate  and  other  articles  for 
the  decent  celebration  of  the  Holy  Communion.  There  were  three  sets  of 
plate  in  the  parish.  A  descendant  of  one  of  the  earliest  families,  now  the 
wife  of  one  of  our  Virginia  clergy,  on  removing  from  this  county,  took 
with  her,  in  order  to  keep  from  desecration,  the  service  belonging  to  the 
lower  chapel.  She  lent  it  to  a  rector  of  one  of  the  churches  in  Richmond, 
with  the  understanding  that  upon  the  revival  of  the  parish  it  must  be 
restored.  Application  was  accordingly  made  in  the  year  1840,  and  the 
vestry  received  the  value  of  the  plate  in  money,  which  was  given  at  their 
suggestion,  they  having  a  full  service  in  their  possession.  The  plate  owned 
by  Christ  Church  was  presented  by  the  Hon.  Ralph  Wormley.  It  num- 
bered five  pieces.  But  for  the  inscription  bearing  the  name  of  the  donor, 
it  would  have  shared  the  fate  of  much  that  was  irreligiously  and  sacri- 
legiously disposed  of.  The  administrator  of  Mr.  Wormley  deposited  it  in 
the  bank  at  Fredcricksburg,  where  it  remained  for  more  than  thirty  years. 
It  has  been  in  use  up  to  a  few  months  since,  when,  we  regret  to  say,  it 
met  with  almost  entire  destruction  by  fire.  Enough  has  been  gathered  up 
to  make  a  service  more  than  sufiicient  for  the  present  little  company  of 
communicants.  It  will  perpetuate  the  name  of  the  donor  and  indicate  his 
pious  intention.  The  third  set,  belonging  to  the  upper  chapel,  was  sold 
by  the  overseers  of  the  poor.  We  omitted  to  mention  in  the  proper  place 
that  there  are  some  slight  traces  of  the  foundation  of  a  building,  now 
overgrown  with  pine-trees,  which  tradition  says  was  the  chapel  of  the 
Buckingham  farm,  the  residence  of  Mr.  Henry  Corbin." 

A  few  words  will  suffice  for  the  history  of  efforts  for  the  revival 
of  the  Church  in  Middlesex.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Rooker  was  employed 
as  missionary,  in  this  and  the  adjoining  county  of  Mathews,  for  a 
few  years  after  1840.  His  preaching  and  labours  excited  a  con- 
siderable zeal  in  the  few  remaining  members  of  the  Church  in  those 
counties.  He  was  succeeded  by  its  present  minister,  the  Rev.  Mr. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  373 

Carraway,  who  has  devoted  himself  now  for  about  ten  years  most 
faithfully  and  laboriously  to  those  two  counties.  Though  the  fields 
be  large  and  comparatively  unproductive,  requiring  great  toil  and  a 
large  amount  of  itinerancy,  and  the  salary  small,  still,  no  invitations 
to  more  promising  and  less  laborious  positions  have  tempted  him  to 
leave  them.  Himself  and  companion  are  now,  and  have  been  for 
some  years,  the  welcome  inmates  of  the  family  of  Captain  Bailey, 
who,  with  his  excellent  wife,  (a  pious  member  of  the  Church,)  is 
living  at  old  Rosegill,  the  ancient  seat  of  the  Wormleys,  on  the 
high  banks  of  the  Rappahannock,  a  few  miles  from  Christ  Church. 
Captain  Bailey,  (the  relative  of  our  old  friend  Colonel  Chewning, 
of  Lancaster,  one  of  whose  descendants  was  vestryman  and  another 
lay  reader  in  Middlesex,  whose  dwelling  is  on  the  opposite  shore,) 
when  an  orphan  boy,  in  a  spirit  of  independence,  left  Lancaster  to 
seek  his  fortune  in  the  wide  world.  He  launched  forth  for  Balti- 
more in  a  merchant-vessel,  traversed  many  seas,  visited  many  lands 
and  experienced  many  dangers  and  hardships,  was  shipwrecked 
often,  (Mrs.  B.  being  with  him  in  one  shipwreck,)  but  still  preserved 
by  a  kind  Providence.  Occasionally,  in  the  midst  of  his  various 
efforts  to  realize  a  fortune,  in  which  he  was  at  length  most  success- 
ful, he  would  return  to  his  native  place,  and,  as  Colonel  Chewning 
has  often  told  me,  cast  a  wishful  eye  on  old  Rosegill,  towering  on  the 
high  banks  of  the  Rappahannock,  and  declaring  his  determination, 
if  Providence  spared  his  life  and  prospered  his  efforts,  that  he 
would  spend  the  evening  of  his  days  as  the  owner  of  that  mansion. 
Providence  has  spared  his  life  and  prospered  his  efforts  in  laying 
up  a  fortune  gathered  from  various  seas  and  countries,  and  he  and 
his  wife  are  now  the  hospitable  owners  of  Rosegill.  More  than 
half  of  the  huge  pile  has  been  removed  by  him,  and  the  remainder 
exalted,  beautified,  and  improved.  Hospitality,  though  modified 
and  improved  from  former  times,  still  distinguishes  the  place. 
Captain  B.  and  his  excellent  wife  are  glad  to  have  the  society  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carraway  as  permanent  guests,  free  of  all  charge. 
Besides  patronizing  old  Christ  Church  on  the  one  side  of  him,  he 
has  recently  purchased  the  old  court-house  in  Urbanna  on  the  other, 
and  converted  it  into  a  neat  and  comfortable  house  of  worship. 
Mr.  Carraway's  services  are  very  acceptable,  and  the  Episcopal 
Church  is  gradually  rising  in  the  estimation  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Middlesex. 


I 

374  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 


ARTICLE  XXXIII. 

Parishes  in  King  and  Queen  and  King  William. — Stratton  Major. 

THIS  is  one  of  our  oldest  parishes,  being  established  in  1664-65. 
Of  the  ministers  previous  to  the  year  1724  we  know  nothing.  In 
that  year  the  Rev.  Mr.  Skaife,  who  had  been  its  minister  for  thir- 
teen years,  and  continued  to  be  so  for  twelve  years  longer,  informs 
the  Bishop  of  London  that  his  parish  was  eighteen  miles  in  length 
and  thirteen  in  breadth ;  that  there  was  only  one  church,  and  that 
open  every  Sunday ;  that  there  were  three  hundred  attendants,  two 
hundred  and  twenty  communicants ;  that  his  salary  was  eighty 
pounds.  In  answer  to  the  question,  Are  there  any  infidels  in  your 
parish?  the  reply  is,  Generally  negroes  are  unbaptized;  they 
that  desire  it  have  it ;  the  church  is  open  to  all.  In  1736  the  Rev. 
John  Reade  becomes  minister,  and  either  dies  or  resigns  in  1743. 
The  following  year  the  Rev.  Mr.  Robinson  becomes  the  minister, 
9,nd  so  continues  until  his  death  in  1767  or  1768.  Of  him  we  shall 
speak  more  in  a  little  while.  On  the  4th  of  April,  1768,  the  Rev. 
William  Dunlap  is  received  as  their  minister.  In  the  year  1773  a 
letter  is  received  from  Mr.  Dunlap, — in  the  West  Indies, — asking 
leave  of  six  months'  absence  longer,  which  is  granted,  and  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Dixon,  from  a  neighbouring  parish,  is  employed  every  other 
Sabbath.  In  the  year  1778  the  vestry  and  their  minister,  Mr. 
Dunlap,  seem  to  be  involved  in  a  difficulty.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Dunlap 
writes  them  a  letter,  which  they  wish  to  consider  as  a  resignation, 
and  so  record  it,  directing  the  churchwardens  to  advertise  his  re- 
signation three  times  in  the  Virginia  Gazette.  This  is  in  April ; 
but  in  September  of  the  same  year  we  find  the  following  record : — 
"  Ordered  that  churchwardens  make  application  to  the  Rev. 
William  Dunlap  and  the  Rev.  Arthur  Hamilton  about  moving  from 
the  glebe ;  and,  provided  they  refuse  to  move,  the  churchwardens 
are  hereby  authorized  to  commence  suit  against  them."  In  the 
following  year  I  find  the  following  order: — "That  the  church- 
wardens wait  on  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hamilton,  offering  him  the  use  of  the 
glebe,  house,  garden.  &c.,  on  condition  that  he  preach  once  a  month 
and  be  ready  to  remove  whenever  required,  and  that  the  church- 
wardens rent  out  the  glebe."  These  unhappy  notices  are  the  last 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  375 

on  the  record  about  the  ministers  of  this  once  flourishing  parish. 
There  are  subsequent  records  of  vestry-meetings  and  proceedings, 
but  not  a  word  is  written  about  even  an  effort  to  secure  the  services 
of  a  minister.  The  last  entry  was  in  1783.  In  vain  do  we  turn 
over  the  pages  of  our  journals  of  Convention  from  the  year  1785 
and  onward  in  search  of  some  clerical  or  lay  delegate  from  this 
parish.  The  name  of  Stratton  Major  is  nowhere  to  be  found  upon 
them. 

About  twenty-five  years  ago,  for  the  first  and  last  time,  I  passed 
through  that  part  of  the  county  where  I  think  it  probable  that  this 
old  church,  of  which  I  shall  soon  speak,  stood.  At  a  little  distance 
from  the  road  I  saw  (for  I  had  not  time  to  stop,  having  to  travel 
thirty-five  miles  that  day  across  three  counties  to  my  appointment) 
a  large  and  venerable  old  church,  which  had  long  been  in  possession 
of  others.  One  of  the  noble  trees  which  almost  touched  its  walls, 
and  gave  shade  to  the  house  and  those  around  and  within,  had  a 
short  time  before  been  cut  down,  by  some  idle  and  wanton  ones, 
merely  to  obtain  a  small  quantity  of  wild  honey  which  was  supposed 
to  be  in  some  hollow  part  of  it.  Whether  its  walls  are  still  standing, 
or  what  is  its  condition,  I  know  not. 

There  never  were,  so  far  as  the  vestry-book  shows,  but  two 
churches  in  this  parish,  called  in  the  entries  of  the  book  the  Upper 
and  the  Lower.  In  the  year  1768,  as  soon  as  the  new  church  of 
which  we  are  about  to  speak  was  finished,  the  vestry  order  that 
the  Upper  Church  should  have  the  doors  and  windows  studded  and 
boarded  if  necessary.  It  is  probable  that,  after  this,  the  new  church, 
which  may  have  been  in  some  central  position,  was  the  only  one  used. 

This  new  church  was  probably  the  largest  and  best  church  built 
in  Virginia  before  that  time,  and  for  years  after.  That  in  Pets- 
worth  parish,  built  a  few  years  before,  cost  eleven  hundred  pounds, 
and  far  exceeded  any  thing  before  seen ;  but  this  was  contracted  for 
with  Mr.  Henry  Gaines,  for  thirteen  hundred  pounds.  Its  dimen- 
sions were  fifty  by  eighty  feet,  and  of  corresponding  height,  with 
galleries.  When  finished,  the  pews  were  not  rented  or  sold  as  now, 
but  were  assigned  by  the  vestry  to  the  individuals  and  families  of 
the  parish.  On  two  pages  of  the  large  folio  vestry-book  are  the 
names  of  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  individuals  or  heads  of 
families  to  whom  these  pews,  or  seats  in  them,  are  assigned.  The 
Hon.  Richard  Corbin's  and  John  Robinson's  (Speaker  Robinson, 
though  he  was  just  dead)  families  seem  to  be  assigned  the  highest 
seats.  Commissary  Robinson  and  family  had  one  near  the  pulpit. 
Then  come  the  Merediths,  Roots,  Shacklefords,  Gaines,  Whitings, 


376  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

Taliaferos,  Metcalfs,  Andersons,  Hunts,  Dudleys,  Wares,  Wed- 
derburnes,  &c.,  though  it  does  not  appear  whether  the  aristocratic 
principle  was  adopted  in  the  general  distribution.  Whoever  would 
see  the  names  of  half  the  families  in  King  and  Queen  one  century 
ago  would  probably  find  them  on  this  vestry-book. 

The  following  list  of  vestrymen,  commencing  in  1739,  will  show 
who  were  the  leading  men  in  all  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  matters 
of  the  parish  and  county : — Richard  Roy,  Richard  Johnson,  Henry 
Hickman,  Edward  Ware,  Thomas  Foster,  Thomas  Dudley,  John 
Collier,  Gawin  Corbin,  Valentine  Ware,  Roger  Gregory,  Richard 
Anderson,  John  Robinson,  Benjamin  Needier,  Robert  Dudley,  John 
Livingston,  Robert  Gaines,  Philip  Roots,  John  Ware,  Richard 
Shackleford,  William  Taliafero,  John  Strakey,  William  Lyne, 
Charles  Collier,  Thomas  Thorpe,  Thomas  Langford,  John  Shackle- 
ford,  John  Foster,  Philip  Roots,  Francis  Gaines,  John  Whiting, 
Thomas  Reade  Roots,  John  Whiting,  James  Prior,  Thomas  Dillard, 
Lyne  Shackleford,  Hon.  Richard  Corbin,  William  Hall,  John  Tay- 
lor Corbin,  Benjamin  Robinson,  Humphrey  Garrett,  Richard  Bray, 
James  Didlake,  Philip  Taliafero,  Lyne  Shackleford,  Jr.,  Thomas 
Dillard,  John  Kidd. 

It  is  painful  to  see  in  this  and  other  vestry-books,  how,  as  the 
Church  began  to  decline  and  dissent  to  increase,  and  some  of  the 
old  friends  disappeared  from  the  vestries,  it  was  difficult  to  supply 
their  places.  Some  who  were  elected  refused  to  serve,  and  even 
some  who  had  served  resigned  their  places.  It  must  be  said,  how- 
ever, of  the  vestry  of  Stratton  Major,  from  its  first  beginning  to 
its  close,  that  it  seems  to  have  been  attentive  to  all  its  duties,  es- 
pecially in  providing  for  the  comfort  of  its  ministers.  While  most 
of  the  vestries  purchased  miserable  glebes  for  eighty  or  a  hundred 
pounds,  and  were  content  with  glebe-houses  in  proportion,  this  ves- 
try gave  seven  hundred  pounds  for  one  glebe,  and  when  it  was  ex- 
pedient to  dispose  of  that  bought  another  for  six  hundred  pounds, 
and  provided  all  necessary  houses  upon  them  of  a  comfortable  kind, 
even  to  a  hen-house  twenty  feet  long,  and  a  dairy  suitable  for  the 
purpose.  Mr.  Richard  Corbin  is  the  first  instance  I  have  met 
with  who  furnished  the  bread  and  wine  for  sacrament  gratuitously. 
He  also  presented  a  marble  font  to  one  of  the  churches,  and  the 
land  on  which  the  new  church  was  built  was  his  gift.  It  was  built 
on  a  place  not  far  from  his  residence,  called  "  Goliath's  Field."  Its 
size  and  walls  were  answerable  to  that  name.  The  walls  began 
with  five  bricks  at  the  foundation,  and  ended  with  four  at  the  top, 
and  were  twenty-seven  feet  high. 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  377 

The  Rev.  William  Robinson,  as  appears  by  the  following  extract 
of  a  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  and  the  records  of  the  vestry- 
book,  was  ordained  in  1743,  and  became  minister  of  Stratton  Major 
in  1744,  continuing  to  be  so  until  his  death  in  1767  or  1768.  He 
became  Commissary  in  the  year  1761.  Governor  Fauquier  was 
much  dissatisfied  with  his  appointment,  and  so  expressed  himself 
in  a  letter  to  England.  The  opposition  of  the  Governor  was  no 
sure  proof  of  the  unworthiness  of  Mr.  Robinson.  He  was  an  arbi- 
trary and  high-tempered  man,  who  could  not  brook  opposition,  and 
Mr.  Robinson  was  no  negative  submissive  character  to  crouch  before 
authority.  They  had  had  one  or  two  serious  rencounters.  During 
the  six  or  seven  years  of  his  Commissaryship,  his  correspondence 
with  the  Bishop  of  London  on  the  affairs  of  the  Church  was  lengthy 
and  able.  He  espoused  the  cause  of  the  clergy  on  the  occasion 
of  the  Two-Penny  Act,  or  Option  Law,  with  zeal  and  fearlessness, 
though  without  success.  He  had  an  independent  fortune  of  his 
own,  and  was  therefore  the  less  liable  to  be  charged  with  mercenary 
motives..  The  following  extract  from  a  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don in  1765  shows  that  he  had  reason  to  believe  that  he  still  had 
enemies  whose  communications  to  the  ears  of  the  Bishop  were  un- 
favourable. The  continuance  of  his  labour  during  the  whole  of  his 
ministry,  for  twenty-four  years  in  the  same  parish,  and  where  there 
was  much  of  character  and  wealth  and  talent,  and  such  zeal  and 
liberality  in  regard  to  all  Church  matters,  speaks  well  in  his  behalf. 

Extract  of  a  letter  from  Mr.  Robinson  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  dated 

May  23,  1765. 

"  MY  LORD  : — I  have  some  reasons  to  apprehend  that  endeavours  have 
been  made  to  prejudice  your  Lordship  against  me,  but  in  what  particular 
I  know  not.  I  must  therefore  beg  your  Lordship's  patience  while  I  give 
some  account  of  myself.  I  was  born  in  Virginia.  At  ten  years  old  I  was 
sent  to  England  for  my  education,  which  was  in  the  year  1729.  I  con- 
tinued at  school  in  the  country  until  the  year  1737,  at  which  time  I  was 
admitted  a  member  of  Oriel  College,  in  Oxford.  After  I  had  taken 
my  B.A.  degree,  I  was  chosen  by  the  Provost  and  Fellows  to  one  of  Dr. 
Robinson's  Bishop  of  London's  exhibitions,  (who  was  my  great-uncle,) 
which  I  enjoyed  for  three  years,  the  term  limited  by  his  Lordship.  In 
June,  1743,  I  was  ordained  Priest  by  Dr.  Gibson,  Bishop  of  London.  I 
returned  to  my  native  country  in  the  year  1744,  (October;)  the  November 
following  I  was  received  into  Stratton  Major  parish  in  King  and  Queen 
county,  where  I  have  continued  rector  ever  since. 

"  I  can  with  truth  assure  your  Lordship,  I  have  always  lived  in  the  great- 
est harmony  with  my  parishioners,  and  I  believe  no  minister  can  be  more 
respected  by  them  than  I  am.  I  have  always  studiously  avoided  giving 
any  just  cause  of  offence  to  any  one,  especially  those  in  authority.  Your 
Lordship,  I  hope,  will  excuse  my  saying  so  much  in  my  own  behalf;  but 


• 


378  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

there  is  a  time  when  it  is  requisite  for  a  man  to  praise  himself;  and  as  to 
the  truth  of  what  I  have  said,  I  can  appeal  to  my  whole  parish."* 

*  The  first  of  the  Robinson  family  of  whom  we  have  any  account  was  John  Robin- 
son, of  Cleasby,  Yorkshire,  (England,)  who  married  Elizabeth  Potter,  of  Cleasby, 
daughter  of  Christopher  Potter,  from  whom  no  doubt  the  name  of  Christopher,  so 
common  in  the  family,  was  derived.  The  fourth  son  of  John  Robinson  was  Dr.  John 
Robinson,  Bishop  of  Bristol,  and,  while  Bishop,  was  British  Envoy  for  some  years  at 
the  court  of  Sweden,  writing,  while  there,  a  history  of  Sweden.  He  was  also  British 
Plenipotentiary  at  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht,  being,  it  is  supposed,  the  last  Bishop  or 
clergyman  employed  in  a  public  service  of  that  kind.  He  afterward  became  Bishop 
of  London,  in  which  office  he  continued  until  his  death,  in  1723.  He  was  twice  mar- 
ried, but  left  no  issue.  He  devised  his  real  estate  to  the  eldest  son  of  his  brother 
Christopher,  who  had  migrated  to  what  was  Rappahannock,  on  the  Rappahannock 
River.  He  was  one  of  the  first  vestrymen  mentioned  on  the  vestry-book  in  Middle- 
sex county,  in  1664,  and  married  Miss  Bertram.  His  oldest  son,  who  inherited 
the  Bishop  of  London's  estate,  was  John  Robinson,  who  was  born  in  1683,  who 
was  also  a  vestryman  of  Middlesex,  and  became  President  of  the  Council  of  Vir- 
ginia. He  married  Catharine  Beverley,  daughter  of  Robert  Beverley,  author  of 
the  "History  of  Virginia"  published  in  1708.  He  had  seven  children;  one  of 
them,  named  John  Robinson,  was  Treasurer  and  Speaker  of  the  Colony.  Another 
— Henry — married  a  Miss  Waring.  Another  married  in  New  York.  Christopher 
Robinson,  who  first  came  over  to  Virginia,  had  six  children.  Of  John,  the  eldest, 
we  have  already  spoken.  Christopher  married  a  daughter  of  Christopher 
Wormley,  of  Essex.  Benjamin,  Clerk  of  Caroline  county,  married  a  Miss  King, 
and  was  the  father  of  the  Rev.  William  Robinson,  minister  of  Stratton  Major, 
in  King  and  Queen.  His  daughter  Clara  married  Mr.  James  Walker,  of  Urbanna, 
in  Middlesex.  His  daughter  Anne  married  Dr.  John  Hay.  Of  his  daughter  Agatha 
nothing  is  known.  One  of  the  descendants  of  the  family  married  Mr.  Carter  Brax- 
ton,  and  others  intermarried  with  the  Wormleys,  Berkeleys,  Smiths,  &c.  The 
worthy  family  of  Robinsons,  in  Norfolk  and  Richmond, — also  those  in  Hanover, — 
were  derived  from  the  same  stock.  A  branch  of  this  family  moved  to  Canada ;  and 
some  of  them  have  held  high  civil  and  military  station  under  the  English  Govern- 
ment there,  and  in  the  mother-country.  The  reputation  of  Mr.  Speaker  Robinson 
suffered  from  the  fact  that  as  Treasurer  he  loaned  to  some  of  his  friends  large 
sums  of  the  public  money.  The  Government,  however,  sustained  no  loss,  as  it 
was  all  made  good  out  of  his  private  estate  at  his  death.  In  all  other  respects  he 
stood  high  in  the  public  confidence.  He  was  never  suspected  of  using  the  public 
money  for  his  own  private  advantage.  He  was  held  in  high  esteem  by  General 
Washington,  as  their  correspondence  shows. 

The  following  epitaph  has  been  furnished  me : — 


EPITAPH. 

"Beneath  this  place  lieth  all  that  could  die  of  the  late  worthy  John  Robinson, 
Esq.,  who  was  a  Representative  of  the  county  of  King  and  Queen,  and  Speaker  to 
the  House  of  Burgesses  above  twenty-eight  years.  How  eminently  he  supplied  that 
dignified  office,  and  with  what  fidelity  he  acted  as  Treasurer  to  the  country  beside, 
is  well  known  to  us,  and  it  is  not  unlikely  future  ages  will  relate,  He  was  a  tender 
husband,  a  loving  father,  a  kind  master,  a  sincere  friend,  a  generous  benefactor, 
and  a  solid  Christian.  Go,  reader,  and  to  the  utmost  of  your  power  imitate  his 
virtues.'* 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  379 


ST.  STEPHEN'S  PARISH,  KING  AND  QUEEN. 

This  parish  was  probably  established  in  1691,  there  being  no 
certain  account  of  it.*  In  the  years  1754  and  1758,  and  again  in 
the  years  1773-74  and  1776,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Dunbar  was  minister  of 
this  parish.  No  minister  appears  on  our  journals  to  represent  this 
parish  until  the  year  1793,  when  the  Rev.  Thomas  Andrews  ap- 
pears from  St.  Stephen's  parish,  but  whether  St.  Stephen's  of  King 
and  Queen,  or  of  Northumberland,  does  not  appear ;  but  there 
were  some  faithful  laymen  in  that  parish,  who  steadily  adhered 
to  its  falling  fortunes.  Anderson  Scott  and  Henry  Young  appear 
as  lay  delegates  in  1785  and  1786.  Mr.  Thomas  Hill  and  William 
Fleet  are  lay  delegates  in  1796.  Mr.  Thomas  Hill  had  attended 
alone,  without  minister  or  associate  layman,  during  several  of  the 
preceding  Conventions ;  but,  after  1796,  St.  Stephen's  parish  ap- 
pears to  be  deserted. 

Of  the  churches  in  this  parish  I  know  nothing,  unless  the  follow- 
ing is  a  description  of  one  of  them : — "  In  the  northwest  of  the 
county,  in  an  old  and  venerable  grove,  stands  St.  Stephen's  Church, 
I  think  in  the  form  of  a  cross.  There  is  no  wall  around  it,  but  it 
is  in  good  repair.  It  is  principally  used  by  the  Baptists,  but  Epis- 
copal services  have  sometimes  been  held  in  it  of  late  years,  and 
one  of  the  Bishops  has  visited  it,  I  believe." 

From  this  whole  county  Episcopalians  have  nearly  disappeared, 
either  by  death,  removal,  or  union  with  other  denominations. 

KING  WILLIAM   COUNTY  AND   THE   PARISHES  IN  IT. 

King  William  was  taken  out  of  King  and  Queen  in  1701.  At 
that  time  St.  John's  parish  was  the  only  one  in  the  county.  In 
1721,  St.  Margarett's  parish  was  established.  A  part  of  this 
being  in  Caroline,  when  that  county  was  established  in  the  year 
1744,  St.  Margarett's  was  divided,  and  that  part  in  Caroline  was 
called  St.  Margarett's  still,  and  that  in  King  William  called  St. 
David's,  so  that  the  two  parishes  in  King  William  were  henceforth 
St.  John's  and  St.  David's.  In  the  year  1754,  the  Rev.  Alexander 
White,  afterward  minister  in  Hanover  county,  and  one  of  those 

*  In  1724  the  Eev.  John  Goodwin  was  minister.  The  parish  was  thirty  miles 
long,  had  three  hundred  families,  sixty  communicants,  a  very  poor  house  and  glebe, 
two  or  three  little  schools,  unendowed.  The  parish-libra^'  consisted  of  three 
books, — the  Book  of  Homilies,  the  Whole  Duty  of  Man,  and  the  Singing  Psalms. 


m 
380  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,    AND 

who  opposed  the  Two-Penny  Act  by  a  lawsuit,  was  the  minister  of 
St.  David's,  and  Mr.  John  Robertson  of  St.  John's  parish.  The 
same  continued  in  these  parishes  in  1758.  In  the  years  1773-74- 
76,  the  Rev.  Alexander  White  is  still  the  minister  of  St.  David's, 
and  the  Rev.  William  Skyren  of  St.  John's.  At  the  first  Con- 
vention in  1785,  the  Rev.  William  Skyren  is  still  the  minister  of 
St.  John's,  attended  by  Mr.  Carter  Braxton  as  lay  delegate,  Mr. 
William  Temple  being  the  lay  delegate  from  St.  David's.  In  1786, 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Skyren  is  still  in  St.  John's ;  Mr.  Carter  Braxton 
the  lay  delegate  from  the  same,  and  Mr.  Benjamin  Temple  and 
William  Spiller  from  St.  David's.  In  1787,  Mr.  Skyren  still  from 
St.  John's,  and  his  lay  delegates,  William  D.  Claiborne,  William 
Spiller,  and  Benjamin  Temple,  from  St.  David's.  In  the  year 
1790,  Rev.  Reuben  Clopton  appears  in  Convention  from  St.  Da- 
vid's, with  Nathaniel  Burwell  as  lay  delegate.  There  was  no 
representative  from  St.  John's,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Skyren  having  re- 
moved to  Hampton.  In  1791,  Mr.  Clopton  is  still  the  minister  of 
St.  David's ;  also  in  1792,  with  Mr.  Nathaniel  Burwell  as  lay  dele- 
gate. St.  John's  is  once  more  represented  by  Carter  Braxton,  Jr. 
as  lay  delegate,  in  1792.  In  1794,  St.  David's  is  represented  by 
Mr.  Joseph  Guathney  as  lay  delegate,  and  in  the  following  year 
by  Mr.  Thomas  Fox  and  Mr.  William  Dabney.  In  the  year  1797, 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Hughes  and  Mr.  Benjamin  Temple  represent  St. 
David's,  and  the  Rev.  John  Dunn  and  Mr.  James  Ruffin  represent 
St.  John's.  In  the  year  1799,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Hughes  and  Mr. 
Thomas  Fox  represent  St.  David's,  and  Mr.  Edward  Chamberlayne 
and  John  Lord  represent  St.  John's.  In  the  year  1805,  the  Rev. 
Duncan  McNaughton  and  Mr.  John  Hull  represent  St.  Stephen's 
parish,  but  whether  the  parish  of  that  name  in  Northumberland  or 
King  William  is  not  known.  This  concludes  the  list  of  ministers 
of  King  William  county,  until  the  Rev.  Farley  Berkeley  was  sent 
there  as  missionary,  who  remained  one  year. 

The  Rev.  John  McGuire,  while  minister  in  Essex,  often  visited 
one  or  more  of  the  old  churches  in  King  William,  and  since  his 
removal  the  Rev.  Mr.  Temple  has  done  the  same ;  but  the  revival 
of  the  Church  in  that  county  is  at  this  time  very  unpromising,  the 
old  Episcopal  families  having  long  since  either  removed  or  united 
with  other  denominations. 

Of  the  old  churches  in  King  William  I  have  received  the  follow- 
ing account : — 

"  King  William  has  still  not  less  than  four  old  Episcopal  churches. 


FAMILIES   OP  VIRGINIA.  381 

First,  West  Point  Church,  or  St.  John's,  in  the  central  part  of  the  lower 
section.  There  is  neither  grove  or  graveyard  now  around  it.  The  pulpit 
was  of  the  ancient  and  customary  shape, — that  of  a  bottle  turned  upside 
down,  the  neck  of  the  bottle  representing  the  stem  on  which  the  body 
was  sustained.  The  stem  is  said  to  be  still  preserved  somewhere  in  the 
church.  A  new  and  ruder  pulpit  has  been  substituted.  The  second  is 
called  Acquinton  Church.  It  is  a  large  old  church,  in  the  form  of  a  cross, 
having  the  aisles  paved  with  flagstones.  The  third  is  St.  David's,  about 
ten  miles  higher  up,  which  is  a  regular  quadrangular  building,  and  is 
sometimes  called  Cattail.  Fourth,  Mangochick  Church,  in  the  upper  part 
of  the  county, — which  is  also  quadrangular.  All  of  the  churches  are  said 
to  be  in  pretty  good  preservation.  The  old  high-back  pews  have  in  some, 
perhaps  in  all  of  them,  given  place  to  benches,  and  the  Commandments 
disappeared,  except  in  two  of  them,  from  the  walls.  They  have  been  re- 
garded and  used  as  common  property  for  a  long  time.  I  have  officiated 
in  two  of  them.  In  one  of  them  I  found  the  old  pulpit  still  standing, 
though  a  new  one  or  a  kind  of  stage  has  been  erected  in  another  part 
of  it,  and  used,  I  was  informed,  by  one  of  two  contending  parties,  who 
officiated  in  the  church, — the  others  still  preferring  the  old  pulpit. 


POSTSCRIPTS    TO    THE  ARTICLES   ON    THE    PARISHES   OP    KING-  AND 
QUEEN,  AND   KING  WILLIAM. 

Two  letters  from  brethren  who  are  well  acquainted  with  these 
counties  enable  me  to  correct  some  errors  in  the  preceding  account. 
As  to  King  and  Queen,  I  was  mistaken  in  supposing  that  I  may 
have  once  passed  by  the  large  church  in  Stratton  Major  parish, 
which  was  built  on  Mr.  Corbin's  land,  called  Goliath's  Field.  The 
one  I  saw  was  in  St.  Stephen's  parish,  and  is  still  standing,  being  in 
possession  of  the  Baptists.  The  Stratton  Major  Church  has  been 
sold,  some  years  since,  and  the  bricks  entirely  removed.  There  is 
still  one  church  standing  in  Stratton  Major  parish.  A  third  was 
destroyed  by  fire.  There  was  also  another  church  in  St.  Stephen's 
parish,  called  the  Apple-Tree  Church.  Among  the  families  be- 
longing to  St.  Stephen's  parish  may  be  mentioned  the  Temples, 
Hoskins,  Scotts,  Youngs,  Hills,  and  Fleets. 

The  following  account  of  the  Rev.  Henry  Skyren,  the  last  of  the 
ministers  who  regularly  officiated  in  the  churches  of  King  William 
and  King  and  Queen,  will  be  read  with  deep  interest : — 

"  The  Rev.  Henry  Skyren  was  born  at  White  Haven,  England.  The 
date  of  his  birth  I  am  unable  to  give,  as  the  family  Bible  was  lost,  though 
it  may  be  seen  on  his  tombstone  at  Hampton.  The  exact  time  of  his 
arrival  in  this  country  is  not  known ;  but  the  first  field  of  his  ministry 
was  in  King  and  Queen  and  King  William  counties,  preaching  alternately 
in  two  or  three  of  the  old  Colonial  churches,  and  residing  in  the  family 
of  Colonel  Corbin,  of  Laneville.  In  1774,  he  married  Miss  Lucy  Moore, 
the  youngest  of  the  three  daughters  of  General  Bernard  Moore  and  Kate 


382  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

Spottswood,  whose  education  he  had  completed,  having  resided  in  her 
father's  family  for  several  years  previous  to  his  marriage.  He  continued 
in  the  same  parish  for  four  or  five  years ;  afterward  removed  to  Hampton, 
where,  after  officiating  for  six  years,  he  died  universally  beloved  and  la- 
mented. It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  his  widow,  who  was  too  amiable 
to  refuse  a  favour,  no  matter  how  unreasonable,  allowed  the  ministers  of 
the  neighbouring  parishes  to  pick  over  and  take  away  the  best  of  his  ser- 
mons, which  were  never  returned  ;  so  that  when  her  brothers-in-law,  Mr. 
Walker,  of  Albemarle,  and  Mr.  Charles  Carter,  of  Shirley,  sent  to  her  for 
them  for  publication,  only  a  few  fragments  could  be  collected. 

"  He  was  said  to  be  an  elegant  scholar  and  accomplished  gentleman, 
who  was  alike  remarkable  for  his  eloquence  and  piety,  never  participating 
in  any  of  the  worldly  amusements  so  common  in  that  day  with  the  clergy. 

"  These  last  facts  we  have  learned  from  the  elder  residents  in  Norfolk 
and  Hampton,  many  of  whom  a  few  years  back  were  living,  who  retained 
a  perfect  recollection  of  him ;  and  there  is  a  lady  living  in  this  place, 
(Fredericksburg,)  Mrs.  John  Scott,  Sr.,  who  recollects  to  have  heard  him 
spoken  of  in  her  early  youth  as  the  most  eminent  divine  of  the  age  in  this 
diocese.  He  left  three  sons  and  three  daughters.  None  of  his  sons  ever 
married,  and  the  name  became  extinct  in  this  country  with  the  death  of 
Colonel  John  Spottswood  Skyren.  His  eldest  daughter  first  married 
Mr.  Frazier,  of  Washington,  and  afterward  Dr.  Lewis,  of  King  William. 
The  youngest  married  Mr.  Tebbs,  of  Culpepper.  The  second,  the  only  one 
of  his  children  now  living,  married  the  late  Robert  Temple,  of  Ampthill, 
eldest  son  of  Colonel  Benjamin  Temple,  of  King  William,  and  is  now 
residing  in  Fredericksburg.  Her  children  and  grandchildren  number 
upward  of  fifty,  many  of  whom  still  cling  to  the  Church  of  their  fathers 
with  a  strong  affection,  mingled  with  veneration  and  love  for  the  memory 
of  their  ancestors ;  and  it  may  be  well  to  add  that  Colonel  Benjamin. 
Temple  and  Parson  Skyren  were  both  members  of  the  first  Episcopal  Con- 
vention ever  held  in  Virginia.  A  reliable  witness  says  that,  when  Mr 
Skyren  preached  in  King  William,  '  the  Acquinton  Church  was  always  so 
crowded  that  the  people  used  to  bring  their  seats  and  fill  up  the  aisle  after 
the  pews  were  full.  The  other  churches  in  which  he  preached  were  Cat- 
tail, and  what  was  called  the  Lower  Church.  The  church  at  Hampton 
was  in  a  very  flourishing  condition,  and  it  was  with  difficulty  Mr.  Skyren 
could  get  the  consent  of  his  congregation  to  preach  in  Norfolk,  where  he 
was  frequently  invited/  ;; 

During  the  ministry  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Dalrymple  in  New  Kent, 
in  the  years  1843  and  1844,  he  made  an  effort  to  revive  the  old 
churches  in  King  William,  by  preaching  there,  and  the  parishes 
were  received  into  the  Convention.  The  Rev.  Edward  McGuire, 
who  succeeded  him,  also  officiated  occasionally,  I  believe ;  but  suf- 
ficient encouragement  was  not  afforded  for  the  settlement  of  a 
minister  among  them.  We  will  not,  however,  despair. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  383 


ARTICLE  XXXIV. 

Parishes  in  New  Kent. — St.  Peter's  and  Blissland  Parishes. 

NEW  KENT  was  cut  off  from  the  upper  part  of  York  county  in 
1654.  It  commenced  on  Scimon's  Creek,  on  the  north  of  York 
River,  some  distance  above  Williamsburg,  and  extended  to  the 
heads  of  Pamunkey  and  Mattapony  Rivers,  and  returned  again  on 
the  north  of  Mattapony  to  the  Prepotanke  Creek,  north  of  York 
River,  including  what  are  now  King  William  and  King  and  Queen 
counties,  as  well  as  Hanover  county  to  the  west.  On  the  north 
of  the  York  and  Pamunkey  Rivers  there  was  a  parish  called  St. 
John's ;  on  the  south,  one  called  St.  Peter's.  .  About  the  year  1684 
or  1685,  a  parish,  east  of  St.  Peter's,  on  Pamunkey  and  York  Rivers, 
toward  Williamsburg,  was  formed,  by  the  name  of  Blissland,  which 
continued  to  have  a  minister  until  after  the  Revolutionary  War. 
We  shall  begin  with  such  notices  as  we  have  been  able  to  obtain  of 
St.  Peter's  parish.  We  have  an  old  vestry-book,  which  probably 
commenced  in  1682,  though  we  can  only  use  it  from  1685,  the  pre- 
vious pages  having  been  torn  out.  A  friend,  however,  has  sup- 
plied the  deficiency  in  some  measure.  Our  materials  from  English 
archives  enable  us  to  go  back  yet  further,  and  furnish  us  also  with 
some  information  of  a  later  date,  not  to  be  found  in  the  vestry-book. 
We  begin  with  these.  In  the  year  1699,  Governor  Nicholson  ad- 
dressed the  following  letter  to  the  High-Sheriif  of  New  Kent 
county,  ordering  a  meeting  of  the  clergy  in  Jamestown.  It  will 
not  only  show  the  spirit  of  the  age  and  of  those  in  authority,  but 
the  peculiarly  dogmatic  spirit  of  the  man : — 

"  SIR  : — I  do  hereby,  in  his  Majesty's  name,  will  and  require  you  to 
acquaint  the  minister  or  ministers  within  your  county,  that  (God  willing) 
they  do  not  fail  of  meeting  me  here  on  Wednesday,  being  the  10th  of  April 
next,  and  that  they  bring  with  them  their  Priests'  and  Deacons'  Orders,  as 
likewise  the  Rt.  Rev.  the  Father  in  God,  the  Lord-Bishop  of  London  his 
license  for  their  preaching,  or  whatever  license  they  have,  and  withall  a  copy 
out  of  the  vestry-books  of  the  agreement  they  have  made  with  the  parish  or 
parishes  where  they  officiate.  If  there  be  any  parish  or  parishes  within 
your  county  who  have  no  minister,  I  do  hereby,  in  his  Majesty's  name, 
command  that  the  vestry  of  said  parish  or  parishes  do,  by  the  said  10th 
of  April,  return  me  an  account  how  long  they  have  been  without  a  minister, 


384  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

and  the  reason  thereof,  as  also  if  they  have  any  person  that  reads  the 
Common  Prayer  on  Sundays  and  at  their  church.  This  account  must  be 
signed  by  them,  and  they  may  send  it  by  the  minister  who  -lives  next  to 
them.  So,  not  doubting  of  your  compliances  therein,  I  remain  your 
loving  friend,  FRANCIS  NICHOLSON. 

"  You  are  not  to  fail  of  making  a  return  to  these  my  orders,  as  you  will 
answer  the  contrary  to  me.  FRANCIS  NICHOLSON." 

The  first  notice  I  find  of  the  religious  condition  of  the  parish 
and  of  the  neighbouring  parishes  is  from  a  letter  in  the  year  1696, 
from  the  Rev.  Nicholas  Moreau,  who  was  the  minister  of  St.  Peter's 
for  two  years.  He  appears  to  have  been  a  pious  man,  and  was  pro- 
bably one  of  the  French  Huguenots  who  were  driven  to  America 
about  this  time  by  the  persecution  growing  out  of  the  revocation 
of  the  Edict  of  Nantes. 

The  following  extract  is  from  a  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  London  : — 

"  Your  clergy  in  these  parts  are  of  a  very  ill  example.  No  discipline 
nor  canons  of  the  Church  are  observed.  Several  ministers  have  caused 
such  high  scandal  of  late,  and  have  raised  such  prejudices  amongst  the 
people  against  the  clergy,  that  hardly  can  they  be  persuaded  to  take  a 
clergyman  into  their  parish.  As  to  me,  my  lord,  I  have  got  into  the  very 
worst  parish  of  Virginia,  and  most  troublesome  nevertheless.  But  I  must 
tell  you  I  find  abundance  of  good  people  who  are  willing  to  serve  God, 
but  they  want  good  ministers, — ministers  that  be  very  pious,  and  not 
wedded  to  this  "world  as  the  best  of  them  are.  God  has  blessed  my  endea- 
vours so  far  already,  that  with  his  assistance  I  have  brought  again  to  church 
two  families  who  had  gone  to  the  Quakers'  meeting  for  three  years 
past.  If  ministers  were  as  they  ought  to  be,  I  dare  say  there  would  be  no 
Quakers  or  Dissenters  among  them.  A  learned  sermon  signifies  nothing 
without  good  example.  I  wish  God  would  put  it  into  your  mind,  my  lord, 
to  send  here  an  eminent  Bishop,  who,  by  his  piety,  charity,  and  severity  in 
keeping  the  canons  of  the  Church,  might  quicken  these  base  ministers, 
and  force  them  to  mind  the  whole  duty  of  their  charge."  Again  :  "  An 
eminent  Bishop  being  sent  over  here  will  make  hell  tremble,  and  settle  the 
Church  of  England  here  forever.  This  work,  my  lord,  is  God's  work;  and 
if  it  doth  happen  that  I  see  a  Bishop  come  over  here,  I  will  say,  as  St. 
Bernard  saith  in  his  Epistle  to  Eugenius,  'Tertius  hie  digitus  Dei  est.'  '' 

The  next  information  is  from  the  report  of  the  condition  of  this 
parish  to  the  Bishop  of  London  in  1724,  by  the  Rev.  Henry  Col- 
lings.  His  parish  had  two  hundred  and  four  families  in  it,  forty 
or  fifty  communicants,  only  one  church,  (St.  Peter's,)  about  one 
hundred  and  seventy  or  one  hundred  and  eighty  attendants.  His 
salary  eighty  pounds,  more  or  less.  Glebe  and  parsonage  rented 
out  for  six  pounds  five  shillings  per  annum.  Catechizing  had  been 
much  neglected :  he  intended  to  introduce  it. 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  385 

The  next  is  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lang,  who  succeeded  Mr.  Collings 
in  1725  and  continued  two  years. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Lang  came  highly  recommended  from  England  to 
Governor  Drysdale  and  Commissary  Blair,  and  by  them  as  highly 
to  the  parish  of  St.  Peter's,  in  New  Kent.  On  the  7th  of  February, 
1725-26,  he  writes  thus  to  the  Bishop  of  London: — "I  observe 
the  people  here  are  very  zealous  for  our  Holy  Church,  as  it  is  es- 
tablished in  England,  so  that  (except  some  few  inconsiderable 
Quakers)  there  are  scarce  any  Dissenters  from  our  communion, 
and  yet  at  the  same  time  supinely  ignorant  in  the  very  principles 
of  religion,  and  very  debauched  in  morals.  This,  I  apprehend,  is 
chiefly  owing  to  the  general  jieglect  of  the  clergy  in  not  taking 
pains  to  instruct  youth  in  the  fundamentals  of  religion,  or  to  examine 
people  come  to  years  of  discretion  before  they  are  permitted  to 
come  to  Church  privileges."  He  speaks  of  the  gross  ignorance  of 
many,  who  on  their  death-beds,  or  on  Christmas-day,  desire  to  re- 
ceive the  sacraments ;  of  the  great  ignorance  of  those  who  offer 
themselves  as  sponsors ;  of  the  evil  lives  of  the  servants  who  have 
been  presented  by  their  owners  to  baptism.  "  The  great  cause  of 
all  which"  (he  says)  "  I  humbly  conceive  to  be  in  the  clergy,  the  sober 
part  being  slothful  and  negligent,  and  others  so  debauched  that 
they  are  the  foremost  and  most  bent  on  all  manner  of  vices. 
Drunkenness  is  the  common  vice."  He  goes  on  to  specify  in- 
stances among  clergy  and  laity  of  great  unworthiness,  concluding 
as  to  the  former  by  saying : — "  How  dreadful  it  is  to  think  that 
men  authorized  by  the  Church  to  preach  repentance  and  forgiveness 
through  Christ  should  be  first  in  the  very  sins  which  they  reprove  !" 
It  is  not  wonderful  that  this  should  be  among  the  first  parts  of  our 
State  in  which  dissent  began,  as  we  are  informed  was  the  case  under 
Samuel  Davies,  some  twenty  or  thirty  years  after  the  date  of  Mr. 
Lang's  letter. 

I  now  proceed  with  a  list  of  the  ministers  of  St.  Peter's  Church 
from  the  year  1682.  The  Rev.  William  Sellake  was  minister  in 
1682.  Rev.  John  Carr  from  1684  to  1686.  Rev.  John  Hall  from 
1686  to  1687.  The  Rev.  John  Page  from  1687  to  1688.  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Williams  officiated  for  a  short  time  in  1689.  Rev.  Jacob 
Ward  from  1690  to  1696.  Rev.  Nicholas  Moreau  from  1696  to 
1698.  Rev.  James  Bowker  from  1698  to  1703.  Rev.  Richard 
Squire  from  1703  to  1707.  Rev.  Daniel  Taylor  from  1707  to  1708. 
Rev.  Daniel  Gray  from  1708  to  1709.  Rev.  Benjamin  Goodwin 
from  1709  to  1710.  From  the  year  1710  to  1720  the  Rev.  William 
Brodie.  During  the  two  following  years  the  Revs.  Thomas  Sharp, 

25 


386  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

Broomscale,  Brooke,  Forbess,  and  Francis  Fontaine,  officiated  there. 
From  1722  to  1725  the  Rev.  Henry  Collings.  From  1725  to  1727 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Lang.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  David  Mossom, 
who  continued  the  minister  for  forty  years.  He  was  the  person 
who  officiated  at  the  nuptials  of  General  Washington,  at  the  White 
House,  a  few  miles  from  St.  Peter's  Church.  It  was  in  that  parish, 
and  under  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Mossom,  that  the  Rev.  Devereux 
Jarratt  was  born  and  trained.  In  his  Autobiography  he  gives  a 
poor  account  of  the  state  of  morals  and  religion  in  New  Kent.  He 
considers  himself  as  a  brand  plucked  from  the  burning  by  the  grace 
of  God.  Illustrative  of  the  condition  of  things,  he  mentions  a 
quarrel  between  Mr.  Mossom  and  his  clerk,  in  which  the  former 
assailed  the  latter  from  the  pulpit  in  his  sermon,  and  the  latter,  to 
avenge  himself,  gave  out  from  the  desk  the  psalm  in  which  were 
these  lines: — 

"  With  restless  and  ungorern'd  rage, 

Why  do  the  heathen  storm  ? 

Why  in  such  rash  attempts  engage 

As  they  can  ne'er  perform  ?" 

Nevertheless,  from  the  long  continuance  of  Mossom  in  this  parish, 
we  doubt  not  that  he  was  a  more  respectable  man  than  many  of  his 
day.  He  was  married  four  times,  and  much  harassed  by  his  last 
wife,  as  Colonel  Bassett  has  often  told  me,  which  may  account  for 
and  somewhat  excuse  a  little  peevishness.  He  came  from  Newbury- 
port,  Massachusetts,  and  was,  according  to  his  epitaph  in  St.  Peter's 
Church,  the  first  native  American  admitted  to  the  office  of  Presby- 
ter in  the  Church  of  England. 

Mr.  Mossom  was  followed  by  the  Rev.  James  Semple,  who  con- 
tinued the  minister  of  the  parish  for  twenty-two  years.  The  Rev. 
Benjamin  Blagrove  was  the  minister  in  the  year  1789.  The  Rev. 
Benjamin  Brown  was  the  minister  in  the  year  1797. 

After  a  long  and  dreary  interval  of  nearly  fifty  years,  we  find 
the  Rev.  E.  A.  Dalrymple  the  minister  from  1843  to  1845.*  Then 
the  Rev.  E.  B.  Maguire  from  1845  to  1851.  Then  the  Rev.  Wil- 
liam Norwood  from  1852  to  1854.  Then  the  Rev.  David  Caldwell 
from  1854  to  1856. 

Having  disposed  of  the  ministers,  we  now  give  a  list  of  the  vestry 
so  far  as  furnished  by  the  vestry-book  from  the  year  1685  to  the 
year  1758.  They  are  as  follows — George  Jones,  William  Bassett, 


*  The  Rev.  Farley  Berkeley  officiated  some  time  before  this  as  missionary  at  St. 
Peter's  Church. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  387 

Stephen  Carlton,  Henry  Wjatt,  Thomas  Mitchell,  John  Park, 
William  Paisley,  J.  Renor,  Cornelius  Dabnee,  (Dabney,)  Gideon 
Ma  con,  Matthew  Page,  George  Smith,  George  Joands,  John 
Rojor,  (Roger,)  David  Craford,  James  Moss,  John  Lydall,  Mr. 
Forster,  W.  Clopton,  John  Lewis,  Nicholas  Merriwether,  John  Park, 
Jr.,  Richard  Littlepage,  Thomas  Butts,  Thomas  Massie,  William 
Waddell,  Henry  Childs,  Robert  Anderson,  Richard  Allen,  Samuel 
Gray,  Ebenezer  Adams,  Charles  Lewis,  Charles  Massie,  Walton 
Clopton,  William  Macon,  W.  Brown,  W.  Marston,  John  Nether- 
land,  William  Chamberlayne,  David  Patterson,  Michael  Sherman, 
John  Dandridge,  Daniel  Parke  Custis,  Matthew  Anderson,  George 
Webb,  W.  Hopkins,  Jesse  Scott,  Edmund  Bacon,  William  Vaughan, 
William  Clayton,  John  Roper. 

It  deserves  to  be  mentioned  to  the  credit  of  the  vestry,  that  it 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  unmindful  of  its  duty  as  guardian 
of  the  public  morals.  On  more  than  one  occasion,  at  an  early 
period,  it  enjoins  on  the  churchwardens  to  see  that  the  laws  are 
enforced  against  such  as  violated  the  seventh  commandment ;  and  in 
the  year  1736,  when  some  unworthy  persons  disturbed  the  congre- 
gation during  service,  an  order  was  passed  that  a  pair  of  stocks 
should  be  put  up  in  the  yard,  in  order  to  confine  any  who  should 
thus  offend. 

It  appears  also  from  the  vestry-book  that  the  parish  was  divided 
in  1704,  and  St.  Paul's,  in  Hanover,  taken  off. 

St.  Peter's  Church  was  built  in  1703,  at  a  cost  of  one  hundred 
and  forty-six  thousand-weight  of  tobacco.  The  steeple  was  not 
built  until  twelve  years  after.  If  the  early  history  of  this  parish 
be  not  creditable  to  its  piety,  let  not  those  unto  whom  in  the  won- 
derful providence  of  God  it  has  been  transmitted,  and  who  are  per- 
mitted to  worship  in  the  venerable  church  of  St.  Peter's,  be  dis- 
couraged. The  first  sometimes  become  last  and  the  last  first.  So 
may  it  be  with  this  parish !  May  its  latter  end  greatly  increase  in 
all  that  is  good  !  That  it  yet  survives  is  proof  that  God  has  a 
favour  toward  it,  and  will  strengthen  the  things  which  seemed  ready 
to  perish.* 

*  Mr.  Jarratt,  as  will  appear  hereafter  in  his  memoirs,  speaks  of  cards,  racing, 
dancing,  and  cockfighting,  as  most  prevalent  in  this  parish,  and  of  himself  as  being 
trained  to  them.  At  that  time  the  Church  had  nearly  come  to  an  end.  In  the 
course  of  my  travels  through  the  State,  and  my  recent  researches  into  its  past  his- 
tory, I  find  that  in  those  parts  of  it  where  such  things  most  prevailed,  there  religion 
and  morality  sank  to  the  lowest  ebb.  Where  gambling,  racing,  and  even  the  low 
practice  of  cockfighting,  were  encouraged,  there  were  the  lost  estates,  the  ruined, 


J 

388  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

-  % 

OF  BLISSLAND  PARISH. 

A  few  words  will  suffice  for  the  little  we  have  to  say  of  this.  No 
vestry-book  remains  to  tell  its  history. 

Though  a  small  parish,  yet  being  near  to  Williamsburg  it  was 
doubtless  continually  supplied,  from  its  establishment  in  1684  or 
1685,  until  the  year  1785,  when  we  lose  sight  of  it  from  the  list  of 
clergy  and  parishes  and  the  journals  of  Conventions. 

In  the  year  1724  the  Rev.  Daniel  Clayton  was  the  minister,  and 
had  been  for  twenty  years,  as  he  writes  to  the  Bishop  of  London. 
There  were  two  churches  in  it.  The  parish  had  one  hundred 
and  thirty-six  families.  His  salary  was  eighty  pounds  per  annum. 
The  glebe  was  worth  nothing.  No  school  or  library  was  in  the 
parish. 

In  the  year  1758  the  Rev.  Chichely  Thacker  was  the  minister. 
In  the  years  1773,  1774,  1776,  and  1785,  the  Rev.  Price  Davies 
was  the  rector.  In  the  latter  year  he  appears  in  the  Convention 
at  Richmond,  attended  by  Mr.  Burwell  Bassett  as  lay  delegate, 
while  the  Rev.  James  Semple  and  Mr.  William  Hartwell  Macon 
represented  St.  Peter's  parish.  What  has  become  of  the  churches 
of  Blissland  parish  I  am  unable  to  say.  Perhaps  I  may  yet  learn. 
I  think  one  of  them  was  an  old  brick  church,  on  the  roadside  from 
New  Kent  to  Williamsburg,  about  twelve  miles  from  the  latter,  and 
which  I  have  seen  in  former  days, — the  walls  still  good,  and  nothing 
else  remaining. 


scattered  families ;  there  were  the  blasted  hopes  of  parents,  the  idle,  intemperate 
sons,  and  the  sacrificed  daughters.  Now  that  horse-racing  has  become  so  discredit- 
able that  it  has  gone  into  the  hands  of  a  lower  order  of  characters,  and  cockfighting 
is  deemed  too  mean  even  to  be  encouraged  by  those,  we  can  scarcely  realize  that 
such  idle  and  destructive  diversions  as  the  former,  and  such  a  cruel  and  degrading 
one  as  the  latter,  should  ever  have  found  the  favour  which  was  once  shown  them. 
That  they  should  ever  regain  that  favour,  we  delight  to  think  of  as  a  moral  impos- 
sibility ;  but,  in  order  to  this,  Christian  parents  should  train  their  children  to  an 
utter  abhorrence  of  them,  and  Christian  gentlemen  frown  upon  them  and  avoid 
them,  as  unworthy  of  genteel  society,  remembering  the  past  and  consulting  for  the 
future 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  389 


ARTICLE  XXXV. 

Parishes  in  Essex  County. -^-No.  1.     South  Farnham. 

THIS  parish  was  erected  in  1692.  It  was  called  South  Farn- 
ham to  distinguish  it  from  one  in  Richmond  county,  on  thfe  north 
side  of  the  Rappahannock,  called  North  Farnham. 

There  were  two  churches  in  this  parish,  called  Upper  and  Lower 
Piscataway.  The  first  minister  of  the  parish  of  whom  we  have 
any  account  was  the  Rev.  Lewis  Latane,  a  Huguenot,  who  came 
to  this  country  and  settled  in  this  parish  in  the  year  1700.  He 
must  have  taken  charge  of  the  parish  very  soon  after  his  arrival, 
as  a  letter  from  Governor  Spottswood  to  the  vestry  of  South 
Farnham — found  among  his  papers,  and  bearing  date  17th  De- 
cember, 1716 — speaks  of  Mr.  Latane  as  having  been  the  minister 
of  the  parish  for  nearly  sixteen  years.  This  letter  is  in  relation 
to  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  vestry  to  displace  Mr.  Latane, 
and  severely  reprehends  their  conduct,  and  threatens  to  interpose 
the  authority  of  the  Governor  if  persisted  in.  It  must  have  been 
abandoned,  as  appears  from  the  journal  of  a  Mr.  John  Fontaine, 
who,  travelling  from  Williamsburg  through  this  region  of  country, 
heard  Mr.  Latane  preach  at  the  parish  church,  as  he  called  it,  in 
1717,  and  speaks  of  his  sermon  and  himself  in  high  terms  of  com- 
mendation. This  was  the  year  after  the  date  of  the  letter  re- 
ferred to.  Mr.  Latane  seems  to  have  been  a  quiet  man,  moving 
on  in  the  even  tenor  of  his  way,  but  feeling  keenly  the  injustice 
done  him  by  his  vestry.  The  opposition  to  him  was  not  on  the 
ground  of  immorality  or  ministerial  unfaithfulness  or  inefficiency, 
but  on  account  of  his  dialect,  to  which  Mr.  Latane  thought  they 
ought  now  to  have  become  accustomed.  He  felt  aggrieved  that, 
after  preaching  for  them  so  many  years,  the  objection  should  be 
made  at  so  late  a  day.  An  anecdote  connected  with  this  matter 
is  related  of  him,  which  seems  to  be  characteristic  of  the  man. 
He  was  riding  with  one  of  his  parishioners,  when  the  subject  of  his 
removal  was  talked  over  by  them.  The  other  expressed  his  sor- 
row, but  thought  it  better  on  the  ground  that  Mr.  Latane's  ser- 
mons were  rendered  unintelligible  by  his  foreign  brogue.  Before 
separating  they  came  to  the  minister's  gate.  "  Go  by,"  he  said, 


I 

390  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

"and  get  something  «to  drink;"  which  was  readily  agreed  to. 
This  he  said  to  prove  him.  "  Now,"  said  the  minister,  "  you  can 
readily  understand  me  when  I  tempt  you  to  do  wrong,  but  you 
can't  understand  me  when  I  counsel  you  to  do  right." 

How  long  he  continued  to  officiate  in  the  parish  church  cannot 
be  ascertained.  No  records  of  the  parish  pertaining  to  the  church 
are  to  be  found,  even  after  diligent  inquisition  made.  The  pro- 
ceedings of  the  vestry  of  South  Farnham,  in  relation  to  the  work 
of  processioners  who  were  appointed  by  the  vestry  under  authority 
and  by  direction  of  the  court  of  Essex,  have  been  found;  but  they 
only  show  who  were  the  ministers  and  who  the  vestrymen  of  the 
parish  at  each  meeting  for  that  business.  The  first  meeting  was 
held  in  1739,  when  the  Rev.  William  Philips  was  present.  Nothing 
but  the  name  of  this  person  can  be  gathered  from  this  or  any  other 
source.  He  is  mentioned  as  being  present  at  subsequent  meetings 
up  to  1744. 

An  interval  of  eight  years  occurs,  and  the  Rev.  Alexander  Cruden 
appears  in  1752  and  continues  until  1773.  There  is  no  one  living 
in  the  parish  who  can  remember  any  thing  of  Mr.  Cruden.  Vague 
tradition  represents  him  as  having  been  a  fine  preacher  in  his  day. 
Nothing  is  known  as  to  his  piety.  He  was  a  native  of  Aberdeen, 
Scotland,  as  is  believed,  and  returned  to  that  country  during  the 
Revolutionary  War.  He  must  have  relinquished  his  charge  two 
years  before  the  war  commenced.  There  was  no  minister  in  the 
parish  from  that  time  till  1792,  when  the  Rev.  Andrew  Syme, 
of  Glasgow,  Scotland,  came  to  the  village  of  Tappahannock  as 
tutor  in  the  family  of  Dr.  John  Brockenbrough,  and  preached  in 
the  churches  of  South  Farnham.  He  received  a  small  salary 
raised  by  voluntary  contribution.  What  were  the  fruits  of  his 
ministerial  work:  whether  the  scattered  sheep  were  collected 
and  their  drooping  spirits  revived,  or  the  tide  of  infidelity  which 
was  then  rising  and  afterward  spread  over  this  region  was 
stayed  by  his  labours,  does  not  appear.  Being  the  first  minister 
after  the  Revolution,  he  doubtless  had  many  difficulties  to 
contend  with,  and  his  usefulness  must  have  been  lessened  by 
his  school.  He  removed  from  Essex  to  Petersburg  in  1794. 
More  than  twenty  years  elapsed  before  there  were  again  any  regu- 
lar services  in  the  parish.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Mathews,  of  St.  Anne's 
parish,  Essex,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Carter,  of  Drysdale  parish,  King  and 
Queen  county,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Krew,  of  Middlesex  county,  offi- 
ciated in  South  Farnham  for  the  rites  of  baptism,  marriage,  and 
burial,  when  sent  for  by  the  few  remaining  followers  of  the  Epis- 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA. 


391 


copal  Church.  When  regular  services  were  again  resumed,  it  was 
under  the  ministry  of  the  Rev.  John  Reynolds,  in  1822,  who  came 
to  this  country  from  England  a  Wesleyan  Methodist  and  after- 
ward entered  the  ministry  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  He  was 
called  by  the  two  parishes  of  Essex  united.  The  parishes  con- 
tinued so  under  the  ministry  of  the  Rev.  J.  P.  McGuire,  who  was 
called  to  the  rectorship  of  St.  Anne's  and  South  Farnham  parishes 
in  1825.  When  he  resigned,  in  1852,  the  parishes  were  each  able 
to  support  its  own  minister.  During  the  dreary  interval  in  the 
history  of  the  Church  in  South  Farnham  parish  referred  to,  the 
influence  of  the  Church  had  waned  until  it  seemed  almost  lost. 
That  it  should  be  revived,  humanly  viewed,  seemed  more  im- 
probable than  that  it  should  become  extinct.  It  was  "  the  Lord's 
doing,  and  it  is  marvellous  in  our  eyes."  The  few  remaining 
friends  were  now  without  minister  or  temple.  Both  churches  in 
the  parish  had  been  destroyed, — one  being  pulled  down,  the  other 
burned.  The  feeling  of  hostility  to  the  Church  engendered  by 
the  establishment  under  the  Colonial  Government,  and  transmitted 
from  generation  to  generation,  was  greatly  increased  in  this 
vicinity  by  the  imprisonment  of  some  of  the  Dissenting  ministers, 
— a  proceeding  which  was  unjustly  identified  with  the  Episcopal 
Church.  This  feeling,  at  its  height  when  the  influence  of  the 
Church  was  at  the  lowest,  joined  with  the  stronger  feeling  of 
rapacity,  led,  as  may  be  supposed,  to  wholesale  plunder  of  the 
churches  and  church-property.  The  destruction  in  this  parish 
has  been  complete.  Nothing  is  to  be  found  but  the  durable  mate- 
rials of  which  the  buildings  were  made.  The  bricks  may  be  re- 
cognised where  seen ;  but  they  are  nowhere  found  except  in  other 
buildings.  The  flagstones,  too,  from  the  aisles,  may  be  seen  in 
walks  and  in  hearths ;  but  not  a  whole  brick,  much  less  one  upon 
another,  nor  a  piece  of  timber,  is  to  be  seen  where  the  temples  of 
the  living  God  stood.  The  monuments  of  the  dead  were  not  even 
spared  in  the  general  depredation.  These  were  dragged  from  their 
resting-places  and  made  into  grindstones,  and  may  still  be  identified 
by  parts  of  the  original  inscriptions. 

As  mentioned,  no  vestry-book  is  to  be  found  belonging  to  the 
parish,  no  Bible,  Prayer  Book,  font,  nor  Communion-table;  and 
the  strange  fact  can  only  be  accounted  for  by  supposing  that  they 
shared  one  common  ruin  with  the  churches. 

One  of  these  buildings  was  preserved  from  destruction  by  a 
worthy  old  gentleman  who  is  said  to  have  watched,  with  his 
servants,  night  after  night,  to  protect  the  house  of  God.  When 


392  OLD  CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

he  died,  the  work  of  destruction  went  on,  nor  ceased  till  nothing 
was  left  to  tempt  the  cupidity  of  the  plunderers.  The  other  was 
spared,  to  meet,  if  possible,  a  worse  fate.  The  bricks  and  nails 
were  the  most  tempting  materials  in  this  house ;  and,  as  the 
readiest  way  to  obtain  these  was  to  fire  the  building,  this  was 
done  accordingly.  But  the  first  attempt  to  burn  it  was  unsuc- 
cessful ;  the  fire,  after  burning  for  a  time,  went  out  of  itself.  No 
one  of  sensibility  could  see  this  house  of  God  as  it  then  stood — 
charred  and  blackened  by  fire,  hacked  by  axes,  and  otherwise 
injured  by  Vandal  hands  —  and  not  have  his  feelings  deeply 
moved.  But  this  condition  did  not  suffice  the  spirit  that  was  bent 
on  its  destruction.  It  stood  a  short  time  longer,  was  again  fired, 
and  burned  to  the  ground.  It  had  been  a  noble  structure  of  the 

o 

kind,  must  have  been  one  of  the  oldest  Colonial  churches,  and,  until 
within  a  few  years  of  its  destruction,  had  much  of  venerable  gran- 
deur in  its  appearance.  Having,  up  to  the  time  of  its  destruction, 
so  far  withstood  the  influence  of  three  natural  elements,  and  a 
still  worse  and  more  cruel  in  the  bosom  of  man,  with  no  guardians 
left  but  the  venerable  oaks  which  had  watched  over  it  in  better 
days,  and  were  still  stretching  out  their  arms  toward  it  as  if  to 
afford  help  in  its  fallen  state,  it  was  an  object  of  peculiar 
interest.  Few  indeed  must  have  been  the  friends  then  to  ask, 
"Who  saw  this  house  in  its  first  glory,  and  how  do  ye  see  it  now?" 
or  they  had  not  had  so  soon  to  take  up  the  lamentation,  "  Our  holy 
and  our  beautiful  house,  where  our  fathers  praised  thee,  is  burned 
up  with  fire,  and  all  our  pleasant  things  are  laid  waste."  But 
there  was  "a  remnant,  according  to  the  election  of  grace,"  who 
"  sighed  for  the  abominations"  they  could  not  prevent,  mourned 
over  the  desolations  of  Zion,  "  who  took  pleasure  in  her  stones, 
and  favoured  the  dust  thereof."  They  were  as  the  "  two  or  three 
berries  on  the  top  of  the  uppermost  bough"  left  after  the  vintage. 
But  they  were  "mothers  in  Israel,"  and  nourished  a  seed  for  the 
future  Church.  The  glebe  belonging  to  the  parish,  together  with 
the  plate  belonging  to  both  churches,  was  sold,  and  the  fund  ac- 
cruing invested  for  the  support  of  the  parish  poor.  The  fund 
yields  about  one  thousand  dollars  per  annum.  The  plate  was 
massive,  and  sold,  at  a  sacrifice,  for  some  three  hundred  or  four 
hundred  dollars. 

The  glebe  was  a  donation  from  Rev.  Lewis  Latane,  the  first 
minister  of  the  parish.  Had  this  plea  been  urged,  after  proper 
steps  to  establish  it, — as  might  have  been  done  in  the  bar  of  the 
sale, — it  had  no  doubt  been  prevented.  The  following  are  the 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  39 8 

names  of  persons  who  constituted  the  vestry  of  South  Farnham 
parish  from  1739  to  1779  :— 

"  Hon.  John  Robinson,  Captain  Nicholas  Smith,  William  Roane,  Mr. 
William  Covington,  Isaac  Scandrith,  John  Vass,  Captain  William  Danger- 
field,  Alexander  Parker,  Abraham  Montague,  James  Reynolds,  Captain 
Francis  Smith,  Mr.  Henry  Young,  James  Webb,  John  Clements,  John 
Upshaw,  Henry  Vass,  James  Mills,  William  Montague,  William  Young, 
Thomas  Roane,  Samuel  Peachy,  Merriwether  Smith,  Archibald  Ritchie, 
John  Richards,  James  Campbell,  William  Smith,  James  Edmonson,  New- 
man Brockenbrough,  John  Beal,  John  Edmonson. 

u  The  Rev.  Lewis  Latane  fled  from  France  to  England  after  the  revo- 
cation of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  in  October,  1685,  and  remained  there  until 
the  year  1700.  He  was  ordained  Deacon,  September  22,  and  Priest,  Oc- 
tober 18,  of  that  year;  reached  Virginia,  March  5,  1701,  and  took 
charge  of  the  parish  of  South  Farnham,  April  5  of  that  year.  He  was 
married  once  before  he  came  to  this  country,  and  twice  afterward.  His 
third  wife,  of  whom  alone  any  thing  is  known,  was  Miss  Mary  Dean,  a 
relative  and  protege  of  Mr.  William  Beverley,  of  Blandfield,  in  Essex 
county,  and  of  the  adjoining  parish  of  St.  Anne's.  Mr.  Latane  died  in 
1732,  leaving  a  widow,  and  one  son  named  John,  and  five  daughters.  In 
his  will  we  have  the  following  characteristic  trait  of  him : — f  My  will  is, 
that  whatsoever  I  am  justly  indebted  to  any  person  be  duly  paid  by  my 
executor ;  and  whereas  Mrs.  Phoebe  Kater,  in  her  last  will  and  testa- 
ment, disposed  of  such  things  to  my  daughters  C.,  P.,  and  S.,  as  were  not 
in  her  power  to  give,  my  will  is  that  none  of  my  said  daughters  shall  have 
any  of  the  said  legacies  paid  them.  But,  if  any  of  them  shall  be  so  re- 
fractory as  to  insist  on  having  any  of  the  said  legacies  paid  them,  then  I 
give  to  each  of  my  said  daughters  twelvepence,  in  full  of  all  the  legacies 
hereafter  in  this  my  will  to  them  given  and  bequeathed/  " 

Faithfully  have  the  descendants  of  this  upright  and  conscientious 
man  followed  the  example  of  his  integrity.  Perhaps  there  is  no 
instance  to  be  found  in  Virginia,  where  a  whole  family  have  been 
more  remarkable  for  truth  and  fidelity  in  all  their  dealings  and 
character.  John,  his  only  surviving  son,  married  a  Miss  Mary 
Allen.  William,  his  only  surviving  son,  married  a  Miss  Ann 
Waring,  leaving  a  large  number  of  sons  and  daughters.  His 
daughter  Lucy,  third  in  descent  from  Mr.  Latane,  married  Mr. 
Payne  Waring,  of  Essex,  so  well  known  as  the  zealous  and  liberal 
friend  of  the  Church  in  that  county  and  in  the  diocese,  and  father 
of  the  present  Mrs.  Richard  Baylor.  His  son  Henry,  now  seventy- 
three  years  of  age,  has  several  children  who  are  members  of  the 
Church,  one  of  whom  is  preparing  for  the  ministry.  His  daughter 
Mary  married  Mr.  John  Temple,  one  of  whose  sons  is  the  minister 
of  Old  South  Farnham  parish  at  this  time,  and  one  of  whom  died  at 
the  University  in  the  year  1829,  a  model  of  piety  and  all  excel- 
lence. A  brief  tribute  is  due  to  his  memory.  In  the  year  1829, 


394  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

a  most  pestilential  and  fatal  disease  broke  out  in  the  village  of 
Charlottesville  and  at  the  University.  Nine  of  the  students  in  the 
latter  fell  victims  to  it,  and  among  them  young  Temple.  Being 
invited  by  the  authorities  of  the  University  to  improve  that  most 
afflictive  dispensation,  I  prepared  and  delivered  a  discourse,  which 
was  published.  From  it  I  extract  the  concluding  sentences,  which 
will  show  in  what  high  esteem  young  Temple  was  held : — 

"  Is  there  upon  earth  a  sight  so  interesting  as  that  of  a  young  man,  at 
a  seat  of  learning,  in  the  midst  of  temptation,  surrounded  by  other  youths 
of  widely-differing  sentiments,  yet  steadily  holding  on  l  the  even  tenor  of 
his  way/  resisting  pleasure,  avoiding  evil  communication,  acting  from  reli- 
gious principle,  and  not  ashamed  to  call  himself  by  the  name  and  seal 
himself  with  the  seal  of  Christ  ?  Have  you  seen  none  such,  my  young 
hearers  ?  Amidst  all  your  young  associates,  was  there  not  one  who  loved 
his  Saviour,  one  whom  you  all  loved,  all  esteemed,  whom  you  could  not  but 
love  and  esteem,  and  who  was  a  witness  to  the  truth  of  that  which  I  have 
spoken  to-day  ? 

"  Was  young  Temple  less  beloved  by  you  all  because  young  Temple  was 
a  Christian,  because  a  portion  of  his  Sabbaths  was  spent  in  teaching  the 
young  and  ignorant,  because  the  Bible  was  his  daily  study  ?  And,  when 
death  was  sent  to  summon  him  away,  was  he  less  happy  ?  Which  one  of 
you  present,  now  in  your  own  mind  hostile  to  religion  and  in  your  con- 
duct furthest  removed  from  it,  but  would,  if  called  to  die,  rather  be  as 
young  Temple  was,  than  as  you  now  are  ?" 

The  following  documents  explain  themselves  : — 

"At  a  Council  held  at  the  Capitol,  the  23d  day  of  January,  1716,  pre- 
sent the  Governor  and  Council. 

u  On  reading  at  this  Board  a  representation  from  Mr.  Commissary  Blair, 
setting  forth  that  the  vestry  of  South  Farnham  parish,  in  Essex  county, 
have  taken  upon  them  to  suspend  Mr.  Lewis  Latane,  their  minister,  from 
the  exercise  of  his  ministerial  office,  without  any  previous  accusation  or 
conviction  of  any  crime ,  and  that  the  said  vestry  have  also  prohibited 
the  performance  of  divine  service  in  the  said  parish,  by  causing  the  church- 
doors  to  be  shut,  and  praying  the  consideration  of  this  therein,  and  the 
order  of  the  vestry  for  suspending  Mr.  Latane  being  also  read,  it  is  the  unani- 
mous opinion  of  this  Board  that  the  said  vestry  have  no  power  to  turn  out 
their  minister  in  the  manner  they  have  done ;  and,  therefore,  it  is  ordered 
that  the  churchwardens  cause  the  doors  of  the  church  to  be  opened,  and 
that  the  said  Mr.  Latane  be  permitted  to  exercise  his  ministerial  functions 
therein,  until  he  be  legally  tried  and  convicted  of  such  crime  as  renders 
him  unworthy  to  be  continued,  for  which  there  are  proper  judicatures  to 
which  the  said  vestry  may  apply,  if  they  have  any  thing  to  charge  him 
with.  And  it  is  further  resolved,  that  in  case  the  said  vestry  shall  refuse 
to  pay  their  minister,  in  the  mean  time,  his  salary  due  by  law,  that  proper 
measures  be  taken  for  obliging  them  to  do  him  justice. 

"(Copied.)  WM.  ROBERTSON,  Clerk  of  Council" 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  395 


Letter  of  Governor   Spottswood   to   the  Churchwardens   and  Vestry  of 
South  Farnham  Parish  in  Essex. 

"  WILLIAMSBURG,  December  17th,  1716. 

"  Q-ENTLEMEN  : — Pin  not  a  little  surprised  at  the  sight  of  an  order  of 
yours,  wherein  you  take  upon  you  to  suspend  from  his  office  a  clergyman 
who,  for  ne"ar  sixteen  years,  has  served  as  your  minister,  and  that  without 
assigning  any  manner  of  reason  for  your  so  doing.  I  look  upon  it  that 
the  British  subjects  in  these  Plantations  ought  to  conform  to  the  Constitu- 
tion of  their  mother-country  in  all  cases  wherein  the  laws  of  the  several 
Colonies  have  not  otherwise  decided;  and,  as  no  vestry  in  England  ever 
pretended  to  set  themselves  up  as  judges  over  their  ministers,  so  I  know 
no  law  of  this  country  that  has  given  such  authority  to  the  vestry  here. 
If  a  clergyman  transgresses  against  the  canons  of  the  Church,  he  is  to 
be  tried  before  a  proper  judicature;  and  though  in  this  country  there  be 
no  Bishops  to  apply  to,  yet  there  is  the  substitute  of  the  Bishop,  who  is 
your  diocesan,  and  who  can  take  cognizance  of  the  offences  of  the  clergy; 
and  I  cannot  believe  there  is  any  vestry  here  so  ignorant  but  to  know  that 
the  Governor,  for  the  time-being,  has  the  honour  to  be  intrusted  with  the 
power  of  collating  to  all  benefits,  and  ought,  in  reason,  to  be  made  ac- 
quainted with  the  crime  which  unqualifies  a  clergyman  from  holding  a 
benefice  of  which  he  is  once  legally  possessed.  In  case  of  the  mis- 
behaviour of  your  minister,  you  may  be  his  accusers,  but  in  no  case  his 
judges;  but  much  less  are  you  empowered  to  turn  him  out  without  show- 
ing any  cause.  But  your  churchwardens,  ordering  the  church  to  be  shut 
up,  and  thereby  taking  upon  them  to  lay  the  parish  under  an  interdict,  is 
such  an  exorbitant  act  of  power,  that  even  the  Pope  of  Rome  never  pre- 
tended to  a  greater ;  and  if  your  churchwardens  persist  in  it,  they  will 
find  themselves  involved  in  greater  troubles  than  they  are  aware  of. 

"  By  the  small  number  of  vestrymen  present  at  the  making  the  late 
order,  and  the  dissent  of  several  that  were,  I  apprehend  the  turning  out 
of  Mr.  Latane,  and  what  has  followed  on  it  since,  to  be  the  effect  of  some 
eudden  heat,  and  therefore  I  am  willing  to  believe  that,  upon  cooler  de- 
liberation in  a  full  vestry,  you  will  think  fit  to  reverse  that  order,  and  give 
your  minister  the  opportunity  of  a  fair  trial,  if  you  have  any  thing  to 
accuse  him  of,  which  is  what  every  subject  ought  to  have  before  he  is 
condemned.  But  if,  contrary  to  my  expectations,  you  persist  in  that  un- 
warrantable way  you  have  begun,  I  recommend  to  your  inquiry  what  suc- 
cess a  vestry  who  took  upon  them  the  like  power  met  with  at  Kichotan, 
(Hampton)  But  I  hope,  without  obliging  me  to  exert  that  authority  his 
Majesty  has  intrusted  me  with,  in  this  case  you  will  rather  choose  to  be 
reconciled  to  your  minister,  which  will  be  more  for  the  quiet  of  your  parish, 
and  much  more  obliging  to, 

"Gentlemen,  your  most  humble  servant, 

A.  SPOTTSWOOD." 


396  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 


ARTICLE  XXXVI. 

Parishes  in  Essex. — No.  2.     St.  Anne  8  Parish. 

THIS  parish  was  established  in  1692,  the  same  year  with  the 
neighbouring  parish  of  South  Farnham,  of  which  we  have  just  given 
some  account.  We  are  unable  to  ascertain*  who  were  its  ministers 
previous  to  1725.  We  learn  from  his  own  journal  that  the  Rev. 
Robert  Rose  became  its  minister  in  February,  1725.  Nor  do  we 
learn  any  thing  of  his  ministry  until  the  year  1746,  as  his  journal 
does  not  commence  until  that  year,  which  he  says  was  the  twenty- 
first  of  his  incumbency  in  the  parish  of  St.  Anne.  This  journal  has 
been  an  object  of  great  interest  and  desire  to  the  antiquaries  of 
Virginia.  Mr.  Charles  Campbell,  of  Petersburg,  in  his  valuable 
History  of  Virginia,  laments  its  supposed  loss  in  the  Western  wilds, 
whither  it  had  been  carried  by  some  of  his  descendants.  I  am  so 
fortunate  as  to  have  it  in  temporary  possession,  through  the  kind- 
ness of  Mr.  Henry  Carter,  of  Caroline  county,  Virginia,  who  has 
recently  gotten  it  from  the  West, — Mr.  Carter  being  one  of  the  pos- 
terity of  Mr.  Rose.  It  will,  in  one  important  respect,  disappoint 


*  On  examination  of  the  Lambeth  Records,  I  find  that  the  Rev.  John  Bagge  was 
the  predecessor  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Rose ;  that  he  came  into  the  Colony  in  1709,  in 
Deacons'  Orders,  but  was  allowed  to  take  charge  of  St.  Anne's  parish.  He  soon 
after  settled  in  another,  but  says  he  was  driven  out  by  an  influential  layman.  In 
1717  he  returned  to  England  for  Priests'  Orders,  then  had  a  difficulty  with  a  Rev. 
Mr.  Rnnsford  about  St.  Anne's  parish,  in  which  Governor  Spottswood  took  his  part 
but  could  not  support  him.  We  find  him,  however,  the  minister  of  St.  Anne's  in 
1724,  but,  dying  soon  after,  he  is  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Robert  Rose.  He  speaks 
of  Governor  Spottswood  as  a  valiant  defender  of  the  rights  of  the  clergy  and  the  Go- 
vernor against  the  usurpations  of  the  vestries,  but  acknowledges  the  failure  of  his 
efforts.  He  admits  that  there  were  not  more  than  four  inducted  ministers  in  the 
Colony.  There  were  two  churches  in  the  parish  of  St.  Anne.  His  salary  was  from 
sixty  to  eighty  pounds,  according  to  the  quality  and  price  of  tobacco, — his  per- 
quisites about  twelve  hundred-weight  of  tobacco.  On  the  counties  bordering  on 
North  Carolina,  he  says  that  the  tobacco  is  so  mean,  and  of  so  little  value,  that  but 
little  is  made,  and  the  ministers  are  obliged  to  receive  their  salaries  in  tar,  pitch, 
pork,  and  other  commodities,  and  that  it  is  difficult  to  get  ministers  to  settle  there. 
This  agrees  with  Colonel  Byrd's  account  of  the  border-parishes  a  few  years  after 
this.  Mr.  Bagge  mentions  seven  or  eight  parishes,  in  different  parts  of  the  State, 
then  vacant.  He  says  that  they  have  no  parish  library  or  public  school. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  397 

the  expectations  of  those  who  have  longed  for  it.     It  only  covers 
the  last  five  or  six  years  of  his  life, — from  January  21,  1746,  to 
June  13,  1751,  soon  after  which  he  died.     It  is,  however,  in  some 
respects  an  interesting  narrative,  exhibiting  the  character  of  its 
author  to  the  life,  and  casting  light  on  men  and  things  of  that  early 
period.     Mr.  Rose  came  from  Scotland  early  in  the  last  century. 
It  is  confidently  believed  that  he  came  under  the  auspices  of  Go- 
vernor Spottswood.     There  was  certainly  a  great  intimacy  between 
them  to  the  day  of  General  Spottswood's  death.     Mr.  Rose  was,  I 
presume,  from  a  large  account-book  bound  up  with  his  journal,  or 
to  which  his  journal  is  appended,  going  back  to  the  year  1727,  his 
executor.     He  certainly  had  much  to  do  with  the  settlement  of  the 
estate,  and  with  his  widow  and  children  after  the  death  of  General 
Spottswood  in  1737.     Mr.  Rose  partook  very  much  of  the  character 
of  General  Spottswood,  being  a  man  of  great  labour,  decision,  bene- 
volence, and  of  extraordinary  business-talents.  If  the  previous  years 
of  his  life  partook  in  any  good  degree  of  the  character  of  the  last 
five  or  six,  he  must  have  done  an  amount  of  labour  such  as  few  men 
ever  accomplish, — too  much  indeed  of  a  secular  kind  to  consist  with 
that  spirituality  which  ought  ever  to  characterize  a  minister  of  the 
Gospel.     He  was  the  executor  of  various  persons  besides  General 
Spottswood.     It  is   due  to  him  to  say  that  a  benevolent  feeling 
seems  to  have  prompted  to  this,  for  the  widow  and  the  orphan  were 
the  objects  of  his  care.     At  an  early  period  after  his  settlement  in 
Essex,  we  find  him  taking  charge  of  the  estate  and  family  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Bagge.     It  is  also  due  to  him  to  say  that  he  never  seems 
to  have  neglected  the  duty  of  preaching.     Wherever  he  was  on  the 
Sabbath,  whether  in  his  own  parish  or  on  his  journeys,  he  records 
his  preaching.     Very  often  also  he  speaks  of  preaching  during  the 
week  a\  private  houses,  and  baptizing  children.     About  the  time 
his  journal  commences,  he  was  preparing  to  move  into  Nelson 
county,  where  he  had  purchased  lands  at  a  cheap  rate,  and  where 
he  settled  his  four  sons,  Hugh,  Patrick,  Henry,  and  Charles.    His 
journal  mentions  all  his  visits  to  and  fro  between  Nelson  and  Essex; 
in  making  which  he  passes  through  Stafford,  Spottsylvania,  Louisa, 
Orange,  Albemarle,  Culpepper,  and  calls  on  all  the  first  families  in 
these  counties,  sometimes  preaching,  sometimes  marrying,  at  other 
times  baptizing.     Wherever  he  went,  accounts  are  brought  out  to 
him  for  examination  and  settlement,  as  though  there  was  none  other 
capable  of  it.     His  judgment  as  to  farms  is  often  consulted.     He 
would  not  only  visit  them,  but  sometimes  help  to  survey  them.  He 
was  equally  good  at  settling  family  disputes,  and  was  often  engaged 


398  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

in  it.  He  was  also  a  man  of  much  public  spirit.  He  once  visited 
Western  Virginia  with  some  friends,  going  as  far  as  the  Cow  Pas- 
ture, sleeping  out  at  nights  in  cold  weather,  and  drinking,  as  he 
records,  wretched  whiskey  for  want  of  something  better, — though 
he  was  still  a  sober  man.  He  was  the  first  to  descend  James  River, 
with  one  or  two  others,  in  an  open  canoe,  as  far  as  Richmond,  and 
thus  establish  its  navigability.  At  that  and  at  other  times,  when 
travelling  by  land,  we  find  him  passing  through  all  the  counties 
lying  between  Nelson  and  York,  stopping  at  all  the  chief  places  on 
James  River, — at  Colonel  Jefferson's,  in  Goochland,  (father  of  the 
President,)  at  Tuckahoe,  Curls,  Westover,  &c.  We  find  him  re- 
peatedly at  Williamsburg, — having  business  with  the  court  and 
Legislature, — dining  or  supping  with  the  Governor  and  Council, 
with  Commissary  Blair,  President  Burwell,  Speaker  Beverley,  with 
the  Nelsons  and  others  at  York, — then  passing  through  Gloucester 
to  Middlesex, — visiting  at  Brandon  and  Rosegill, — thence  to  his 
parish  in  Essex.  About  twice  a  year  for  five  years  he  seems  to 
have  made  excursions  of  this  kind,  more  or  less  extensive.  He 
was  doubtless  a  very  popular  man  in  Virginia,  and  enjoyed  the 
affection  and  confidence  of  the  first  men  and  families  in  the  State. 
The  manner  and  place  in  which  he  terminated  his  life  is  one  proof 
of  this.  When  the  city  of  Richmond  was  about  to  be  laid  out,  he 
was  invited,  by  those  to  whom  the  duty  was  intrusted,  to  meet  with 
them  and  aid  by  his  counsel.  It  was  while  thus  engaged  that  he 
sickened  and  died.  He  lies  buried  in  the  graveyard  of  the  old 
church  on  Richmond  Hill,  with  the  following  inscription : — 

"  Here  lyeth  the  body  of  Robert  Rose,  Rector  of  Albemarle  parish. 
His  extraordinary  genius  and  capacity  in  all  the  polite  and  useful  arts  of 
life,  though  equalled  by  few,  were  yet  exceeded  by  the  great  goodness  of 
his  heart.  Humanity,  benevolence,  and  charity  ran  through  tffe  whole 
course  of  his  life,  and  were  exerted  with  uncommon  penetration.  In  his 
friendship  he  was  warm  and  steady;  in  his  manners  gentle  and  easy;  in 
his  conversation  entertaining  and  instructive.  With  the  most  tender  piety 
he  discharged  all  the  domestic  duties  of  husband,  father,  son,  and  brother.* 
In  short,  he  was  a  friend  of  the  whole  human  race,  and  upon  that  principle 
a  strenuous  asserter  and  defender  of  liberty.  He  died  the  30th  day  of 
June,  1751,  in  the  47th  year  of  his  age." 


*  Mr.  Rose  had  four  brothers,  who,  from  his  journal,  must  hare  settled  some- 
where in  Virginia  not  very  far  from  him.  His  brother  Charles  was  the  minister  of 
Cople  parish,  in  Westmoreland  county.  In  his  journal  he  speaks  of  visiting  him 
there.  Visits  are  also  exchanged  with  his  other  brothers,  though  their  residences 
are  not  so  exactly  denned.  He  speaks  aflFectionately  of  his  brothers,  wife,  and 
children. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  39P 

He  must  have  entered  on  his  charge  in  Essex  when  he  was  but 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  for  in  his  journal  of  February  1,  1746, 
he  says  that  that  was  the  twenty-first  year  of  his  incumbency  in 
St.  Anne's  parish.  If  ordained  Deacon  during  the  year  preceding 
his  entrance  into  the  parish,  he  must  have  been  in  his  forty-third 
year  at  the  time  of  this  entry  on  the  journal ;  and  he  lived  five  years 
and  five  months  after  this.  It  is  difficult  to  reconcile  these  dates, 
and  there  may  be  a  mistake  either  in  the  entry  or  the  inscription. 

I  doubt  not  but  that  the  inscription  is  far  more  just  to  his  cha- 
racter than  most  of  the  records  of  that  period.  I  have  not  been 
able  to  meet  with  any  of  the  sermons  of  Mr.  Rose,  and  therefore 
cannot  speak  of  his  theology  or  style  of  preaching;  and  there  is 
nothing  in  his  entries  which  give  us  any  light  into  his  religious  cha- 
racter and  sentiments,  or  the  state  of  religion  at  that  time.  He  only 
records  his  sermons,  their  texts,  and  the  times  and  places  of  their 
delivery,  and  some  baptisms  and  communions.  Once  only  does  he 
mention  meeting  with  a  Baptist, — an  ignorant  ploughman, — who 
tried  to  get  him  into  a  controversy  about  election  and  reprobation, 
and  to  whom  the  only  advice  he  gave  was,  as  he  says,  that  of  John 
the  Baptist,  that  every  man  attend  to  his  own  business.  The  Bap- 
tists were  then  making  considerable  progress  in  Virginia,  and  I  have 
no  idea  that  Mr.  Rose  or  any  of  the  clergy  of  the  Episcopal  Church 
of  that  day  were  calculated  to  oppose  them  successfully.  The  style 
of  the  sermons  and  the  delivery  of  the  same  were  altogether  to'o 
tame  for  that  purpose.  They  were  written,  in  almost  every  instance 
that  I  have  seen,  in  a  very  small  hand,  and  with  very  close  lines, 
as  if  paper  was  too  scarce  and  dear  to  admit  of  any  thing  else. 
They  must  have  read  very  closely  in  order  to  get  through  with  such 
manuscripts.  The  location  and  form  of  their  pulpits  were  also  such 
as  to  show  that  they  kept  their  eyes  very  near  to  the  manuscript, 
and  did  not  care  to  look  at  the  congregation.  The  pulpits  in  the 
old  churches  were  always  either  on  the  side  of  the  church,  if  oblong, 
or  on  one  of  the  angles,  if  cruciform.  The  aisles  were  wide,  and  a 
cross  aisle  and  door  nearly  opposite  the  pulpit,  so  that  only  a  small 
portion  of  the  congregation  could  be  seen  by  fhe  minister.  It  was 
also  so  deep,  that  unless  he  were  a  very  tall  man  his  head  only 
could  be  seen.  In  the  earlier  part  of  my  ministry  I  have  often 
been  much  at  a  loss  how  to  elevate  myself  in  many  of  these  old 
churches  which  I  visited,  and  have  sometimes  hurried  to  church  be- 
fore the  congregation  assembled,  in  order  to  gather  up  stones,  bricks, 
and  pieces  of  plank  to  raise  a  little  platform  under  me,  and  which 
was  not  always  very  steady.  I  have  preached  repeatedly  in  two  of 


400  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

the  old  churches,  built  under  the  auspices  of  Mr.  Rose,  whose  pul- 
pits were  remarkably  deep.  In  one  of  them,  a  large  round  block 
sawed  from  the  body  of  a  tree,  more  than  a  foot  high,  had  been 
provided  by  some  one  of  his  successors,  and  stood  in  the  centre  of 
the  pulpit ;  and  even  on  this  I  found  it  uncomfortable  to  stand  and 
preach.  All  of  these  old  pulpits  have  been  lowered  and  their  loca- 
tion changed. 

But  I  have  something  more  to  say  of  Mr.  Rose  from  his  journal. 
He  was  a  kind  of  universal  genius.  Now  he  is  in  the  house  reading 
Cicero's  Orations,  now  on  the  farm  engaged  in  all  kinds  of  employ- 
ment, now  at  his  neighbours',  instructing  and  helping  them  in  various 
operations.  Now  he  writes  in  his  journal  a  recipe  for  the  best  mode 
of  curing  tobacco.*  His  visits  to  friends  in  neighbouring  parishes 
are  recorded.  We  find  him  in  the  Northern  Neck,  at  the  Fitzhughs' 
and  Stewarts' ;  then  going  over  to  Maryland,  visiting  at  Dr.  Gus- 
tavus  Brown's,  five  of  whose  daughters  married  clergymen,  as  we 
shall  see  hereafter ;  at  Dr.  John  Key's,  who  married  another ;  as- 
sociating with  some  of  the  Romish  clergy,  who  treated  him  very 
kindly.  His  association  with  numbers  of  the  clergy  of  Virginia 
is  mentioned.  He  speaks  of  Mr.  Stewart,  of  King  George, — then 
Stafford, — as  an  eloquent  preacher,  as  being  an  exception  to  the 
scriptural  rule,  for  he  was  a  prophet  who  had  honour  in  his  own 
country.  He  mentions  in  an  account-book  Mr.  Alexander  Scott, 
of  Stafford,  as  being  minister  in  1727,  and  Mr.  Moncure,  his  suc- 
cessor, at  a  later  period.  He  visits  Mr.  Mayre,  of  Fredericksburg, 


*  The  following  information  is  from  a  reliable  source : — 

"  During  the  early  part  of  my  life, — say  some  fifty  years  ago  or  more, — I  heard  my 
grandfather,  or  my  great-uncle,  I  do  not  recollect  exactly  which  of  them,  relate  an 
anecdote  of  Parson  Robert  Rose.  There  had  been  a  year  of  great  drought,  pro- 
ducing, if  not  a  famine  the  succeeding  year,  great  scarcity  and  tribulation  among 
the  settlers  of  the  upper  part  of  Amherst  and  Nelson  counties. 

"Parson  Rose,  hearing  of  the  distress  of  the  people,  gave  information,  by  ad- 
vertising, that  he  had  a  quantity  of  corn  which  he  could  spare,  and  all  those  wish- 
ing to  get  a  share  should  come  to  his  house  on  a  certain  day.  Many  of  the  good 
people  attended  promptly  to  his  summons,  and  when  he  thought  they  had  all  arrived 
he  requested  all  those  who  wanted  corn  that  they  should  form  a  line.  They  did  so. 
When  the  line  was  formed,  he  asked  the  applicants  whether  they  had  the  money  to 
pay  for  the  corn :  many  of  them,  rejoicing,  cried  out,  <  We  have  the  money ;'  whilst  the 
greater  portion,  with  looks  and  eyes  cast  down,  said,  « We  have  no  money.'  The  par- 
son, with  good-humour,  commanded  all  those  that  had  money  to  step  one  pace  in  front. 
After  they  had  done  so  he  said  to  them,  « You  all  have  money?'  The  cry  was,  'Yes, 
yes ;'  when  he  again,  in  great  good-nature,  said  to  them,  <  As  you  have  money,  you 
are  able  to  get  corn  anywhere ;  but  as  to  these  poor  fellows  who  have  no  money,  they 
are  to  get  my  corn.'  And  it  was  so  done.'.' 


FAMILIES   OP  VIRGINIA.  401 

— Mr.  Dixon,  one  of  the  successors  of  Mr.  Latane  in  South  Farn- 
ham  parish, — mentions  Mr.  Thompson,  of  Culpepper,  who  married 
the  widow  of  General  Spottswood,  and  between  whom  and  the 
family,  who  opposed  the  marriage,  he  effected  a  reconciliation.  He 
speaks  particularly  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Smelt,  who,  through  his  influ- 
ence, succeeded  him  in  Essex.  In  his  journal,  after  hearing  him 
preach,  he  thus  writes: — "Kev.  Mr.  Smelt  preached  on  John, 
4th  chap.  8-36  verses,  (Tillotson's,)  delivered  modestly  and  dis- 
tinctly."* Borrowing  sermons  was  very  common  in  those  days. 
Other  ministers  also  are  mentioned,  as  Mr.  Maury,  of  Albemarle, 
Mr.  Douglass,  of  Goochland,  Mr.  Barrett,  of  Louisa,  Mr.  Yates,  of 
Middlesex,  Mr.  Camm,  of  Williamsburg,  Mr.  Stith,  of  Curls  Neck, 
and  Mr.  Cruden.  With  the  leading  families  of  his  parish  he  ap- 
pears to  have  lived  on  the  most  intimate  terms.  He  is  continually 
breakfasting,  dining,  or  staying  all  night,  at  Colonel  Brooke's,  at 
Mr.  Beverley's  of  Blanfield,  at  Mr.  Tarent's,  Mr.  Fitzhugh's,  at  Mr. 
Garnett's,  Mr.  Rowzie's,  Fairfax's,  Parker's,  Mercer's,  and  Lomax's. 
He  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  energy  and  business  in  Church 
matters  also.  When  elected  minister  in  Nelson,  then  part  of  Albe- 
marle, and  in  what  was  called  St.  Anne's  parish,  at  one  meeting  of 
the  vestry  in  1749  he  had  an  order  passed  for  four  new  churches, — 
the  Forge,  Balinger's,  Rooker's,  and  at  New  Glasgow,  the  two  for- 
mer on  the  Green  Mountain,  and  the  latter  in  what  is  now  Amherst, 
though  he  did  not  live  to  see  them  all  finished.  The  habits  of  Mr. 
Rose  were  doubtless  temperate.  He  speaks  of  turning  away  an 
overseer  for  getting  drunk  on  a  certain  occasion ;  and  yet,  in  evidence 
of  the  habits  of  the  times,  he  speaks  of  bringing  home  with  him 
one  day  from  Leighton's,  on  the  Rappahannock,  "  rum  and  wine 
and  other  necessaries,"  and  at  another  time  of  carrying  a  quarter- 
cask  of  wine  into  Nelson,  the  first  that  ever  crossed  Tye  River, 
although  the  Cabels,  Higgenbottoms,  and  Frys  then  lived  there.f 
In  further  proof  of  the  manner  and  habits  of  the  age,  I  mention 
the  entry  of  a  visit  to  one  of  the  leading  families  of  his  parish,  when 
he  found  that  the  head  of  it  had  gone  to  Newcastle  (which  was  in 


*  The  Rev.  Mr.  Smelt  was  the  grandfather  of  Miss  Caroline  Smelt,  whose  memoirs 
were  written  in  the  year  1818  by  the  Rev.  Moses  Waddell,  of  South  Carolina. 
Mr.  Smelt  was  an  Englishman,  and  a  graduate  of  Oxford.  His  son  Dennis  Smelt, 
after  receiving  his  literary  education  at  William  and  Mary  College,  went  to  England 
and  obtained  a  medical  one.  On  returning  to  America  he  settled  in  Augusta,  Georgia, 
where  he  married  a  Miss  Cooper.  The  religious  exercises  and  character  of  their 
daughter  Caroline  were  such  as  to  justify  the  publication  of  her  memoirs. 

f  This  is  questioned. 


J 

402  OLD  CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

another  county,  and  a  considerable  distance  off)  to  a  cockfight.  I 
read  of  him  also  as  being  at  a  horse-race  at  Tye  River,  (probably 
at  New  Market,  where  were  races  afterward,)  but  then  he  adds:  — 
"  Memorandum  :  suffer  it  no  more,"  as  though  he  had  power  to  pre- 
vent it  and  would  do  so.  I  bring  this  notice  to  a  close  by  stating 
that  Mr.  Rose  was  twice  married.  Who  his  first  wife  was,  or 
whence  she  came,  I  know  not.  At  the  death  of  a  daughter  in  1748, 
there  is  the  following  entry: — "  Buried  my  daughter's  body  by  the 
side  of  her  mother  and  brother  Robert,  at  Mr.  Brooke's  plantation." 
His  second  wife  was  Miss  Ann  Fitzhugh,  of  Stafford,  not  far  from 
Fredericksburg.  With  all  the  families  of  Fitzhughs  in  Stafford, 
King  George,  and  Essex,  he  seems  to  have  lived  on  the  most  affec- 
tionate terms.  His  last  wife  survived  him,  but  how  many  years  I 
am  unable  to  say.  His  four  sons,  Hugh,  Patrick,  Henry,  and 
Charles,  settled  on  the  farms  in  Nelson  and  Amherst  left  them  by 
their  father.  His  son  Colonel  Hugh  Rose  was  a  man  of  great  de- 
cision of  character,  and  for  many  years  acted  as  lay  reader  in  two 
of  the  churches  of  Amherst, — viz. :  Rooker's,  and  that  at  New 
Glasgow.  After  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and  when  the  church 
was  without  a  minister,  a  young  preacher  of  another  denomination, 
coming  from  a  distance,  and  understanding  that  there  was  no  mi- 
nister in  the  parish,  gave  notice  that  on  the  following  Sunday  he 
would  officiate  in  the  church  at  New  Glasgow.  On  the  Sabbath 
morning  he  took  possession  of  the  pulpit.  Soon  after,  Colonel 
Hugh  came  in,  prepared  to  execute  his  office.  Seeing  the  pulpit 
occupied,  and  learning  by  whom,  he  ascended  and  politely  informed 
him  that  it  was  his  church,  and  that  he  could  not  give  place  to 
another.  Whereupon  the  occupant  came  down,  and  the  lay  reader 
performed  his  part.  Being  an  accomplished  gentleman,  however, 
as  well  as  staunch  Churchman,  he  insisted  on  his  going  home  with 
him,  where  he  treated  him  with  so  much  kindness  and  hospitality 
as  to  make  a  deep  impression  on  the  young  preacher,  who  took 
pleasure  ever  after  in  speaking  of  the  whole  affair. 

As  to  the  successors  of  Mr.  Rose  in  Essex,  we  are  unable  to 
speak  fully,  for  want  of  documents.  Mr.  Smelt  succeeded  him  in 
1749,  and  was  there  in  1758,  according  to  a  list  which  I  have  from  an 
English  paper.  I  have  no  other  lists  of  ministers  until  the  year 
1774  and  1776.  In  two  Virginia  almanacs  of  those  dates,  the  Rev. 
John  Matthews  is  set  down  as  the  minister  of  St.  Anne's  parish. 
From  1776  to  1814  there  is  no  account  of  it.  No  delegation,  either 
clerical  or  lay,  appear  in  any  of  the  Conventions  from  1784  to  1805. 
After  the  renewal  of  our  Convention,  in  1812,  two  years  elapsed 


FAMILIES  OF  VIRGINIA.  403 

before  there  was  any  representative.  In  1814  the  Rev.  Mr.  Norris 
and  myself  passed  through  the  Northern  Neck  and  Essex,  on  our 
way  to  Richmond,  when  the  Hon.  James  Hunter  and  Thomas 
Mathews  were  appointed  delegates.  In  the  year  1817  the  Hon. 
James  Garnett  was  sent,  and,  in  the  year  1820,  Mr.  Robert  Bever- 
ley.  In  the  year  1822  the  Rev.  John  Reynolds  took  his  seat  as 
minister  of  both  of  the  parishes  of  Essex.  In  the  year  1826  the 
Rev.  John  P.  McGuire  appears  as  minister  of  the  same.  He  con- 
tinued faithfully  serving  them  for  twenty-four  years,  and  performing 
a  large  amount  of  missionary  labour  in  the  adjoining  counties. 
During  his  ministry  the  old  and  venerable  brick  church  called 
Vauter's  (built  most  probably  about  the  year  1731)  was  repaired, 
and  two  others  built  in  St.  Anne's  parish, — one  a  very  handsome 
frame  building  in  Tappahannock,  the  other  about  ten  miles  off. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Temple,  fourth  in  descent  from  Mr.  Latane,  is  the 
minister  of  the  latter,  and  the  Rev.  E.  C.  McGuire,  son  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  McGuire,  of  Fredericksburg,  and  nephew  of  the  former  minister, 
the  Rev.  J.  P.  McGuire,  is  the  rector  of  the  former, — viz. :  Vau- 
ter's Church,  St.  Anne's  parish.  Some  of  the  descendants  of  the 
old  families  mentioned  in  Mr.  Rose's  journal  still  help  to  sustain 
the  Church  in  this  region.  Many  of  them  are  scattered  far  and 
wide  through  the  land. 

The  following  communication  concerning  Old  Vauter's  Church, 
from  Mr.  Richard  Baylor,  of  Essex,  is  worthy  of  a  place  in  an 
article  on  St.  Anne's  parish : — 

"  Upon  a  branch  of  Blackburn's  Creek,  called  Church  Swamp,  stands 
Vauter's  Church,  built,  as  indicated  by  a  date  inscribed  upon  its  walls,  in 
1731.  This  church,  as  you  know,  is  in  a  good  state  of  preservation, — 
though  it  has  been  twice  thoroughly  shingled  and  otherwise  repaired  and 
modernized  within  my  recollection.  The  walls  over  the  doors  and  win- 
dows have  cracked  somewhat,  but  with  proper  attention  Old  Vauter's  will 
yet  serve  many  generations.  The  first  thing  that  I  recollect,  as  con- 
nected with  the  old  sanctuary,  is,  that  my  father  used  to  keep  the  old 
English  Bible  at  Marl  Bank,  and  when  the  casual  services  of  a  passing 
Episcopal  minister  were  to  be  held  there,  a  servant  took  the  old  Bible  on 
his  head,  and  accompanied  the  family,  a  near  walking-way,  across  this 
same  Blackburn's  Creek,  and  after  service  brought  it  back.  I  still  have 
the  old  Bible  at  Kinlock,  [the  name  of  Mr.  B.'s  place,]  valued  for  its  an- 
tiquity, and  on  its  blank  leaves  are  numerous  references  in  my  father's 
handwriting.  I  remember  when  the  church-doors  always  stood  wide  open, 
if,  indeed,  they  could  be  closed,  and  have  taken  refuge  myself  from  a 
storm  in  the  body  of  the  church,  leading  my  horse  in  with  me.  Before 
the  old  Bible  was  kept  by  my  father  or  others,  it  laid  upon  the  desk;  and 
I  have  heard  that  a  man  told  upon  himself  that  he  once  took  the  Bible, 
intending,  no  doubt,  to  appropriate  it  to  his  own  or  worse  uses,  carried  it 


404  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

some  miles  or  more  homeward  from  the  church,  when  he  became  so 
conscience-smitten  that  he  returned  and  restored  it  to  its  own  place.  I 
was  told  by  the  late  Robert  B.  Starke,  of  Norfolk,  that  many  years  ago 
he  attended,  as  surgeon,  one  of  a  party  who  fought  a  duel  in  Yauter's 
Churchyard,  before  the  door  facing  toward  Loretto.  The  parties  were 
the  late  General  Bankhead  and  a  Mr.  Buckner,  who,  after  an  exchange 
of  one  or  two  shots  without  physical  effect,  retired  satisfied.  We  are 
now  indebted  to  the  firm  friendship  of  a  lady  that  Yauter's  Church  did 
not  share  the  same  fate  of  other  such  sanctuaries, — as,  for  instance,  the 
church  at  Leedstown,  just  across  the  river.  So  soon  as  Mrs.  Muscoe 
Garnett  heard  that  persons  had  commenced  carrying  away  the  paving- 
stones  of  the  aisles,  and  perhaps  some  of  the  bricks,  she  claimed  the 
church  as  her  own,  and  threatened  prosecution  to  the  next  offender.  The 
ground  on  which  she  placed  her  claim  was  that  the  church  stood  on  her 
land,  or  that  of  her  family.  Around  the  church  are  numerous  graves,  all 
now  levelled  downj  and  no  one  knows,  or  seems  to  care  to  know,  who 
tenants  them.  The  only  tombstones  to  be  seen  are  those  over  Mr.  Ander- 
son and  Mr.  Miller,  who  both  lived  and  died  at  Brooke's  Bank.  Messrs. 
Anderson  and  Miller  were  merchants,  and  Brooke's  Bank  an  old  trading- 
place  on  the  Rappahannock." 

A  friend  has  furnished  me  with  the  following  information  and  sta- 
tistics, which  are  well  worthy  of  insertion  as  a  supplement  to  the  two 
articles  on  the  parishes  in  Essex  county.  It  will  be  remembered  that, 
from  1652  to  the  year  1695,  what  is  now  Essex  was  a  part  of  Rap- 
pahannock  county,  and  what  are  now  South  Farnham  and  St.  Anne 
parishes  were  part  of  Littenburne  parish.  The  only  list  of  vestry- 
men in  Rappahannock  parish  is  that  of  the  first  vestry  after  its 
establishment,  under  a  minister  by  the  name  of  Francis  Doughty. 
In  place  of  the  names  of  vestrymen,  the  old  records  of  the  court 
furnish  us  with  a  list  of  the  magistrates  and  clerks ;  and  a  friend 
has  transcribed  the  following,  who  acted  from  1680  to  1800 : — 

Names  of  Justices  of  Rappahannock  County  from  1680  to  1695,  when 
Essex  County  was  established. 

Henry  Aubrey,  Major  Henry  Smith,  Captain  George  Taylor,  Mr.  Thos. 
Harrison,  Colonel  Jno.  Stone,  Colonel  Leroy  Griffin,  Major  Robinson,  Colonel 
Wm.  Loyd,  Captain  Samuel  Bloomfield,  Wm.  Fauntleroy,  Samuel  Peachy, 
William  Soughter,  Cadwallader  Jones,  Henry  Williamson.  Clerks  of  the 
Court,  Robert  Davis,  Edward  Crosk. 

Essex  County,  1695.     Names  of  Justices  from  1695  to  1700. 

Captain  John  Caslett,  Captain  William  Moseley,  Robert  Brocky,  John 
Taliafero,  Thomas  Edmunson,  Francis  Taliafero,  Captain  John  Battaile, 
Bernard  Gaines,  James  Baughan,  Francis  Gaulman,  Richard  Covington. 
Clerk  of  Court,  William  Colson. 

From  1700  to  1720:  William  Tomlin,  Samuel  Thrasher,  Dobyns, 
Robert  Coleman,  Thomas  Meriwether,  Colonel  John  Lomax,  Colonel 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  405 

William  Dangerfield,  Paul  Micou,  Major  Benjamin  Robinson,  Captain 
Thomas  Waring,  Francis  Thornton,  Joshua  Fry.  Clerk  of  Court,  Francis 
Meriwether. 

From  1720  to  1740 :  William,  son  of  Colonel  William  Dangerfield, 
Captain  Salvator  Muscoe,  Robert  Brooky,  Captain  Nicholas  Smith, 
Alexander  Parker,  Thomas  Sthreshley,  Major  Thomas  Waring,  James 
Garnett,  Richard  Tyler,  Jr.,  Mungo  Roy,  Benjamin  Winslow,  Thomas 
Jones,  Francis  Smith,  William  Roane.  Clerk  of  Court,  William  Be- 
verley. 

From  1740  to  1760  :  Colonel  William  Dangerfield,  John  Corbin,  Samuel 
Hipkins,  Rice  Jones,  Henry  Young,  John  Clements,  William  Covington, 
Francis  Waring,  Archibald  Ritchie,  Paul  Micou,  John  Upshaw,  William 
Montague,  Charles  Mortimer. 

From  1760  to  1780 :  Meriwether  Smith,  Samuel  Peachy,  John  Lee, 
Leroy  Dangerfield,  Thomas  Roane,  Robert  Beverley,  John  Beale,  Robert 
Payne  Waring,  William  Latane,  John  Brockenbrough,  Humphrey  B. 
Brooke. 

From  1780  to  1800 :  Sthreshley  Rennolds,  Paul  Micou,  Jr.,  John 
Dangerfield,  Maco  Clements,  Robert  Beverley,  Jr.,  James  Upshaw,  Tun- 
stall  Banks,  Reuben  Garnett,  James  Sale,  Thomas  Roane,  Jr.,  Joseph 
Bahanaon,  Andrew  Monro,  Thomas  Pitts,  John  Mathews,  James  M. 
Garnett.  Clerks  of  Court,  from  1740  to  1800,  were  Wm.  Beverley,  John 
Lee,  Hancock  Lee,  John  P.  Lee. 

"  This  Joshua  Fry  mentioned  above  (continues  my  friend)  married 
Mrs.  Mary  Hill,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Paul  Micou  the  first.  I  have 
heard  from  my  father  that  this  Joshua  Fry  was  connected  with  Wil- 
liam and  Mary  College.  He  has  numerous  descendants  in  Virginia. 
One  of  this  family  accompanied  General  Washington  in  the  Indian 
wars.  John  Lomax  was  the  ancestor  of  Judge  John  T.  Lomax ;  Paul 
Micou  and  Mungo  Roy,  the  ancestors  of  the  Roys  and  Micous  in  this 
State.  The  Dangerfields  mentioned  above  were  lineal  descendants  of 
John  Dangerfield,  the  first  settler  in  the  county  of  Rappahannock, 
who  resided  at  Greenfield,  and  to  whom  it  was  granted  in  1660. 
The  last  proprietor  was  Colonel  John  Dangerfield.  Most  of  the 
other  justices  have  descendants  in  this  section  at  this  time.  Archi- 
bald Richie,  the  ancestor  of  this  family  in  Virginia,  was  a  Scotch- 
man, and  a  merchant  in  Tappahannock." 


THE   DANGERFIELD    FAMILY. 

The  history  of  the  Dangerfield  family  in  this  country,  so  far  as 
I  have  been  able  to  ascertain,  is  contained  in  the  following  state- 
ment. "  The  first  of  the  name  who  emigrated  to  America  were  two 
brothers,  John  and  William,  who  came  to  this  country  early  and 
settled  on  the  James  River :  one  or  both  of  them  intermarried  with 
the  Elands  and  Robinsons,  and  held  a  high  social  position  in  that 


si 

406  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

section.  The  residence  of  John  Dangerfield,  in  New  Kent,  retained 
the  family  name  within  the  memory  of  one  living  at  this  time.  It 
is  not  known  whether  they  held  any  office  or  not.  In  1660,  John 
Dangerfield,  a  descendant  of  John,  located  a  patent  in  the  county 
of  Rappahannock,  and  at  Greenfield,  which  remained  in  the  family 
till  1821.  He  married  in  Rappahannock,  and  left  a  son,  William. 
He  became  a  justice  and  colonel,  and  married  a  member  of  the 
Batherst  family  of  England, — a  Miss  Meriwether,  of  Batherst,  Essex 
county.  He  left  a  son  William,  who  married  a  Miss  Fauntleroy, 
of  Nailor's  Hold.  He  was  also  a  justice,  and  left  three  sons, — John, 
William,  and  Leroy.  William  inherited  the  greater  portion  of  his 
estate,  including  the  family  residence,  and  was  one  of  the  seven 
colonels  appointed  at  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution.  He 
married  a  Miss  Willis,  of  Fredericksburg,  and  died  during  the 
Revolution,  at  his  seat, — Coventry,  Spottsylvania, — and  left  a  large 
family.  John,  the  eldest,  inherited  the  estate  in  Essex,  and  suc- 
ceeded to  the  offices,  civil  and  military,  held  by  his  ancestors.  He 
married,  first,  Miss  Southall,  of  Williamsburg,  and  secondly,  Miss 
Armstead,  of  Hess.  Leroy,  the  brother  of  the  last  William,  filled 
the  office  of  justice  for  several  years,  and  married  a  Miss  Parker, 
daughter  of  the  first  Judge  Parker,  of  Westmoreland  county,  and 
descendant  of  Alexander  Parker,  a  justice  of  Rappahannock.  He 
removed  to  Frederick  county,  Virginia. 

To  the  above  contributions  from  Mr.  Micou,  the  worthy  Clerk  of 
Essex,  and  another  friend,  I  have  something  more  to  add.  The  father 
of  the  first  Lomax  who  came  to  this  country  was  one  of  the  silenced 
and  ejected  ministers  in  the  time  of  Charles  I.  of  England, — a  pious, 
conscientious,  and  superior  man.  His  son  John,  who  came  to  this 
country,  intermarried  with  the  Wormlys  of  Middlesex.  Lunsford 
Lomax,  son  of  John,  married  Judith  Micou,  daughter  of  the  first 
Paul  Micou,  who  settled  in  Virginia,  and  who  was  a  French  surgeon 
and  Huguenot.  Major  Thomas  Lomax,  father  of  the  present  Judge 
Lomax,  was  his  son.  The  family  seat  is  that  beautiful  estate 
situated  on  Portobago  Bay,  a  few  miles  below  Port  Royal,  on  the 
Rappahannock.  The  eldest  sister  of  Judith  Micou,  who  married 
Lunsford  Lomax,  married  Moore  Fauntleroy.  One  of  her  daugh- 
ters married  the  Rev.  Mr.  Giberne,  of  Richmond  county.  Another 
of  this  connection,  who  was  the  grandmother  of  Mr.  Micou,  the 
present  Clerk  of  Essex,  married  the  Rev.  Mr.  Mathews,  one  of 
the  ministers  of  St.  Anne's  parish,  Essex. 

I  have  been  furnished  by  a  worthy  friend  with  some  notices  of 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  407 

the  connection  and  relatives  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Mathews,  the  sub- 
stance of  which  I  take  pleasure  in  adding  to  what  has  been  written 
concerning  St.  Anne's  parish,  Essex.  The  families  of  Mathews 
and  Smith  and  Bushrod  intermarried  at  an  early  period.  The  Rev. 
John  Mathews  also  married  a  Miss  Smith.  His  son  Thomas  was  a 
member  of  one  of  our  earlier  Conventions;  his  daughter  Mary 
married  Dr.  Alexander  Somervail,  of  Scotland;  his  daughter 
Fanny  married  James  Roy  Micou,  father  of  the  present  Clerk  of 
Essex ;  his  daughter  Virginia  married  Dr.  William  Baynham,  of 
Essex.  There  were  also  two  other  daughters. 

The  two  physicians  who  married  daughters  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Mathews  were  most  eminent  men  in  their  profession,  and  of  very 
high  moral  character. 

Dr.  Somervail,  though  brought  up  in  the  Kirk  of  Scotland,  was 
for  some  time  an  avowed  infidel.  It  is  said  that  some  remarks 
dropped  by  Mrs.  Hunter,  mother  of  the  present  Senator  in  Con- 
gress, during  a  religious  discussion  she  had  with  the  celebrated  Dr. 
Ogilvie  and  one  of  his  Virginia  followers,  in  the  presence  of  Dr. 
S.,  made  an  impression  on  his  mind,  and  led  him  to  a  serious  exa- 
mination of  Christianity,  which  resulted  in  his  conversion.  He 
was  most  eminent  in  his  profession,  contributing  largely  to  Dr. 
Chapman's  Medical  Journal,  and  being  the  author  of  an  important 
discovery,  by  which  one  of  the  most  painful  diseases  of  the  human 
frame  is  relieved.  He  was  the  physician  of  the  poor  as  well  as 
the  rich.  On  leaving  Scotland  his  father  said  to  him,  "  If  you 
ever  oppress  the  poor  my  curse  is  upon  you."  Neither  the  curse 
of  his  earthly  or  heavenly  Father  came  down  upon  him  for  neglect- 
ing the  poor.  On  the  very  day  of  his  death,  in  his  seventy-sixth 
year,  he  paid  friendly  visits  to  some  of  his  poor  patients.  Dr. 
Somervail,  after  his  conversion,  connected  himself  with  the  Baptist 
Church,  but  was  beloved  and  esteemed  by  all.  The  Hon.  James 
M.  Garnett  sent  an  extended  obituary  of  him  to  the  National 
Intelligencer  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

Not  less  eminent  was  the  other  son-in-law  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Mathews, — Dr.  William  Baynham.  He  was  the  son  of  an  old 
vestryman  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Caroline  county,  who  was 
also  an  eminent  physician.  The  son,  after  studying  seven  years 
under  his  father,  completed  his  preparations  for  the  practice  of 
medicine  under  the  celebrated  Dr.  William  Hunter,  of  London. 
Young  Baynham  distinguished  himself  while  in  England,  and  had 
he  remained  there  would  certainly  have  attained  to  the  highest 


408 


OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 


station  in  his  profession..  He  also  was  the  discoverer  of  something 
very  important  in  the  medical  department.  The  eulogies  bestowed 
upon  him,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  for  moral  character  and  great 
medical  attainments,  of  which  I  have  specimens  before  me,  prove 
that  he  was  a  man  of  great  celebrity.  The  Hon.  Kobert  Garnett, 
of  Essex,  furnished  the  press  with  a  high  encomium  on  his 
character. 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  409 


ARTICLE  XXXVII. 

Parishes  in  Caroline  County. — St.  Mary's,  St.  Margarett's,  St. 
Asaph,  Drysdale. 

IN  the  year  1827  Caroline  county  was  formed  out  of  the  heads 
or  upper  parts  of  Essex,  King  and  Queen,  arid  King  William,  and, 
soon  after,  the  parishes  of  Drysdale  and  St.  Margarett's  were 
formed,  it  is  believed,  for  I  can  find  no  certain  account  of  the 
time.  The  parish  of  St.  Mary's  had  previously,  I  think,  been 
established  in  Essex  county,  most  probably  soon  after  the  county 
was  established  in  1701.  Wherefore  we  find  that,  in  1724,  when 
the  Bishop  of  London  sent  his  circular  to  the  clergy,  an  answer 
was  returned  from  the  Rev.  Owen  Jones,  minister  of  St.  Mary's 
parish,  Essex.  He  had  then  been  twenty  years  in  the  parish. 
The  parish  was  about  twenty  miles  long,  extending  from  below 
Port  Royal  up  toward  Fredericksburg,  I  suppose,  as  it  now  does. 
There  were  one  hundred  and  fifty  families,  one  hundred  and  fifty 
attendants  at  church,  one  hundred  communicants;  servants  neg- 
lected, and  particular  means  for  their  instruction  discouraged ;  no 
public  school,  no  parish  library. 

In  the  year  1754  one  of  the  three  John  Brunskills  was  the 
minister.  In  1758  the  Rev.  Musgrave  Dawson  was  there.  In 
the  years  1773-74  and  1776  the  Rev.  Abner  Waugh  was  minister. 
In  the  years  1785  and  1786,  after  our  Conventions  commenced, 
we  find  Mr.  Robert  Gilchrist  the  lay  member,  but  no  clergyman, 
although  Mr.  Waugh  was  still  the  minister  of  the  parish.  JSTor 
does  he  appear  until  the  year  1792,  and  never  again  after  that. 
It  will  be  seen  that,  in  the  close  of  life,  he  was  for  a  short  time 
minister  of  the  church  in  Fredericksburg. 

A  friend  has  furnished  me  the  following  tradition  concerning 
some  of  the  old  churches  in  Caroline  county :  whether  all  of  them 
were  in  St.  Mary's  parish  is  doubtful : — 

"  There  was  one  which  stood  on  the  south  side  of  Maricopie  or  Massa- 
copie  Creek,  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  county,  and  was,  I  think,  called 
Joy  Creek  Church,  from  a  small  rivulet  close  by.  Every  vestige  of  it  had 
disappeared  before  my  father's  recollection,  so  that  it  must  have  been  one 
of  the  most  ancient  of  our  churches.  Another  stood  near  the  south- 


410 


OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 


western  border  of  the  county,  near  Reedy  Creek,  and  was  called  Reedy 
Creek  Church.  Within  my  recollection  the  walls  and  roof  were  entire. 
About  thirty  years  ago  the  roof  fell  in,  and  immediately  the  bricks  were 
carried  away  by  the  neighbours.  A  third  was  near  the  Bowling  Green, 
about  a  mile  northeast  of  it.  This  was  in  good  condition  about  forty  or 
fifty  years  ago,  and  services  held  in  it.  The  Hoomes,  Pendletons,  Taylors, 
Battailes,  Baylors,  and  other  old  families,  attended  it.  Another  is  the  Old 
Bull  Church,  or  St.  Margarett's,  with  which  you  are  familiar.  The  last  is 
the  present  Rappahannock  Academy,  about  two  miles  from  the  river  and 
four  miles  above  Port  Royal.  In  my  boyhood/'  says  my  informant,  "an 
amusing  story  was  told  of  two  men  returning  one  night  from  muster  with 
too  much  of  what  is  called  Dutch  courage  in  them, — that  is,  intoxicated. 
The  old  church  was  said  to  be  haunted  of  the  devil,  and  they  determined 
to  drive  him  out.  It  was  very  dark,  and  one  of  them  planted  himself  at 
one  door,  or  where  a  door  had  been,  while  the  other  entered  at  the  other 
end  with  a  pole,  with  which  he  began  to  beat  about,  when  something 
started  up  and  ran  to  the  door  where  the  other  man  stood  with  his  legs 
stretched  out.  It  proved  to  be  an  ox,  which  was  in  the  habit  of  sheltering 
there,  and  which,  lowering  his  head  as  he  approached  the  man,  took  him 
on  his  neck  and  bore  him  some  distance  away." 

I  have  also  received  a  letter  from  a  clerical  brother  who  has 
long  ministered  in  this  region,  and  from  which  I  make  a  few 
extracts : — 

"  The  Mount  Church,  before  it  was  converted  into  an  academy,  was  one 
of  the  first  country-churches  in  the  State.  It  was  in  the  form  of  a  cross, 
with  galleries  on  three  of  the  wings,  in  one  of  which  was  the  largest  and 
finest-toned  organ  in  Virginia.  This  organ  was  sold,  under  an  Act  of  the 
Legislature,  and  the  proceeds  applied  to  the  purchase  of  a  library  for  the 
use  of  the  Rappahannock  Academy.  It  is  now  in  a  Roman  Catholic 
church  in  Georgetown.  The  aisles  were  paved  with  square  slabs  of  sand- 
stone. The  enclosure  around  the  church  was  used  as  a  burial-ground,  and, 
though  now  a  play-ground  for  the  boys,  the  forms  of  the  graves  are  ap- 
parent. The  glebe  was  first  sold,  and  the  proceeds  applied  to  an  academy, 
and,  the  following  year,  the  house  itself  was  appropriated  to  the  same  pur- 
pose. John  Taylor,  of  Caroline,  John  T.  Woodward,  Lawrence  Battaile, 
Hay  Battaile,  and  Reuben  Turner,  were  the  trustees.  I  have  been 
unable,"  says  my  correspondent,  "  to  ascertain  the  age  of  Mount  Church. 
It  must  have  been  built  at  a  period  long  anterior  to  the  Revolution.  The 
first  minister  of  the  parish  was  the  Rev.  Mr.  Boucher.  All  that  I  can 
gather  concerning  him  is,  that  he  lived  and  taught  school  in  Port  Royal. 
The  only  reminiscence  of  his  acts  is  a  red  sandstone  monument,  which  he 
had  erected  near  the  village  to  the  memory  of  one  of  his  pupils,  who  died 
in  1763,  aged  nine  years,  on  which  there  is  this  epitaph  : — 

'  Beneath  this  humble  stone  a  youth  doth  lie 
Almost  too  good  to  live,  too  young  to  die : 
Count  his  few  years,  how  short  the  scanty  span ! 
But  count  his  virtues,  and  he  died  a  man.'  " 

This  may  be  good  poetry,  but  in  the  second  line  there  is  un 
sound  theology.     I  suppose  we  must  make  a  liberal  allowance  foi 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  411 

the  poetica  licentia.  Mr.  Boucher  was  also,  at  one  time,  the 
minister  of  Hanover  parish,  in  King  George,  on  the  other  side  of 
the  river.  I  have  often  heard  my  old  friend,  Mr.  Addison,  of 
Maryland,  speak  of  him.  He  was  connected  with  the  Addisons 
and  the  Carrs,  of  Maryland,  but  in  what  way  I  know  not.  The 
name  of  Boucher  is  still  in  use  among  the  Carrs  of  Virginia. 
The  following  account  of  him  I  take  from  the  third  volume  of 
that  interesting,  laborious,  and  impartial  work  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Anderson  on  the  Colonial  Churches  : — 

"  I  allude  to  Jonathan  Boucher,  who  was  born  in  Cumberland,  in  1738, 
and  brought  up  at  Wigton  Grammar-School.  He  went  to  Virginia,  at 
the  age  of  sixteen,  and  was  nominated  by  the  vestry  of  Hanover  parish, 
in  the  county  of  King  George,  to  its  rectory  before  he  was  in  Orders.  He 
returned  to  England  for  ordination,  and,  after  he  had  crossed  the  Atlantic 
a  second  time,  entered  upon  the  duties  of  that  parish  upon  the  banks  of  the 
Rappahannock.  He  removed,  soon  afterward,  to  St.  Mary's  parish,  in 
Caroline  county,  upon  the  same  river,  where  he  enjoyed  the  fullest  confi- 
dence and  love  of  his  people.  In  the  second  of  two  sermons  preached  by 
him,  upon  the  question  of  the  American  Episcopate,  in  that  parish,  and  in 
the  year  1771,  in  which  it  had  been  so  strongly  advocated,  he  expresses 
his  assurance  that  he  would  be  listened  to  with  candour  by  his  parishioners, 
seeing  that  he  had  lived  among  them  more  than  seven  years,  as  their  minis- 
ter, in  such  harmony  as  to  have  had  no  disagreement  with  any  man,  even 
for  a  day.  The  terms  of  this  testimony,  and  the  circumstances  under 
which  it  was  delivered,  leave  no  room  to  doubt  its  truthfulness.  He  was 
accounted  one  of  the  best  preachers  of  his  time,  and  the  vigorous  and  lucid 
reasoning  of  his  published  discourses  fully  sustains  the  justice  of  that  repu- 
tation. From  St.  Mary's  parish  Mr.  Boucher  went  to  Maryland,  where  he 
was  appointed  by  Sir  Egbert  Eden,  its  Governor,  to  the  rectory  of  St. 
Anne's,  in  Annapolis,  the  capital  of  that  Province,  and  afterward  of  Queen 
Anne's,  in  Prince  George  county.  From  the  latter  parish  he  was  ejected 
at  the  Revolution. 

"His  l Discourses' — thirteen  in  number,  preached  between  the  years 
1763  and  1775 — were  published  by  him  when  he  was  vicar  of  Epsom, 
in  Surrey,  in  1795,  fifteen  years  after  the  formal  recognition  by  England 
of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States.  They  contain,  with  an  his- 
torical preface,  his  views  of  the  causes  and  consequences  of  the  American 
Revolution,  and  are  dedicated  to  General  Washington,  not  because  of  any 
concord  of  political  sentiment  between  him  and  the  writer,  for  in  this 
respect  they  had  been  and  still  were  wide  as  the  poles  asunder,  but  to 
express  the  hope  of  Mr.  Boucher  that  the  offering  which  he  thus  made  of 
renewed  respect  and  affection  for  that  great  man  might  be  received  and 
regarded  as  giving  some  promise  of  that  perfect  reconciliation  between 
these  two  countries  which  it  was  the  sincere  aim  of  his  publication  to 
promote.  While  the  language  of  this  '  Dedication'  attests  the  candour 
and  generosity  of  Boucher's  character,  still,  his  courage  and  hatred  of  every 
thing  that  savoured  of  republicanism  are  displayed  not  less  clearly  through- 
out the  whole  body  of  his  work.  The  only  faults  which,  in  the  course  of 
his  '  Historical  Preface/  he  can  detect  on  the  part  of  England,  before  and 
during  the  war  which  had  deprived  her  of  thirteen  Colonies,  was  the 


412  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

feebleness  of  her  ministers  at  home  and  of  her  generals  abroad.  The 
positive  injustice  of  many  of  her  acts  seems  never  present  to  his  mind. 
The  arguments  of  Burke  and  Chatham,  exposing  that  injustice,  weigh 
with  him  as  nothing." 

The  foregoing  extract  from  Mr.  Anderson's  work  shows  the 
author  to  be  a  man  of  candour  and  a  lover  of  America,  though  a 
good  English  Churchman  too.  I  hope  his  work  will  be  patronize.d 
in  this  country. 

To  these  notices  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Boucher  I  add  something  more 
from  my  clerical  correspondent  in  Caroline : — 

"  The  successor  of  Mr.  Boucher  was  the  Rev.  Abner  Waugh.  He  was 
the  last  minister  of  Mount  Church.  He  was  not  engaged  in  the  active 
duties  of  the  ministry  for  many  of  the  latter  years  of  his  life.  Mr.  Waugh 
was  chaplain  to  the  Convention  which  ratified  the  Federal  Constitution. 

"  The  chief  families  in  this  parish,"  he  adds,  (there  being  no  list 
of  vestrymen,)  "were  the  Millers,  Foxes,  Grays,  Beverleys,  Taliaferos, 
Woodfords,  Battailes,  Fitzhughs,  Corbins,  &c.  A  member  of  one  of  the 
families  was  buried,  according  to  her  own  directions,  beneath  the  pave- 
ment of  the  aisle  of  that  wing  of  the  church  which  was  occupied  by  the 
poor.  She  directed  this  to  be  done  as  an  act  of  self-abasement  for  the 
pride  she  had  manifested  and  the  contempt  she  had  exhibited  toward  the 
common  people  during  her  life,  alleging  that  she  wished  them  to  trample 
upon  her  when  she  was  dead." 

In  relation  to  Old  Mount  Church,  where  this  lady  was  interred, 
we  conclude  with  an  extract  from  our  report  to  the  Convention 
of  1838  :— 

"  The  services  of  this  place  [Grace  Church,  Caroline]  being  over,  we 
proceeded  to  Port  Royal.  On  our  way  to  that  place,  and  only  a  few  miles 
above  it,  we  passed  by  a  large  brick  building,  once  a  temple  of  the  living 
God,  where  our  forefathers  used  to  worship,  now,  by  an  act  of  the  Legis- 
lature, converted  into  a  seminary  of  learning.  This  house,  like  some  others 
of  those  built  in  ancient  times,  seems  destined  to  outlive  generations  of 
those  more  modern  ones,  which,  hastily  and  slightly  constructed,  soon  sink 
upon  their  own  knees  and  fall  into  ruins.  It  stands  on  an  elevated  and 
beautiful  hill,  overlooking  the  river  and  country  around,  and  is  rendered 
very  interesting  by  a  number  of  large  and  venerable  trees  not  far  distant. 
It  was  deserted  as  a  place  of  worship,  some  time  before  its  conversion  into 
a  seminary.  The  melodious  organ  that  once  filled  the  house  with  its  en- 
rapturing notes  (said  to  have  been  the  first  ever  imported  into  Virginia, 
and  of  great  price)  has  long  since  been  sold,  and  is  now  in  a  Roman 
Catholic  chapel  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  (either  in  Washington  or 
Georgetown.)  During  the  interval  of  its  use  as  a  church,  and  its  applica- 
tion toother  objects,  if  common  fame  is  to  be  credited,  (and  we  fear  it  de- 
serves it  but  too  well,)  this  sacred  house  was  desecrated  to  most  unhallowed 
purposes.  The  drunken  feast  has  been  spread  where  the  holy  Supper  of  our 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  413 

Lord  was  wont  to  be  received,  and  the  footsteps  of  the  dance  have  sported 
over  that  floor  where  the  knees  of  humble  worshippers  once  bent  before 
the  Lord." 

ST.  MARGARETT'S,  CAROLINE  COUNTY. 

This  parish,  as  we  have  seen,  was  established  soon  after  the 
year  1727. 

In  the  years  1754  and  1758,  the  Rev.  John  Brunskill — one  of 
three  ministers  of  the  same  name — was  in  charge  of  St.  Marga- 
rett's. By  another  document  in  my  possession,  I  find  that  he  was 
in  this  county  before  the  year  1750.  From  1758  to  1773  we 
have  no  means  of  ascertaining  who  ministered  in  this  parish. 
From  1773  to  1787,  the  Rev.  Archibald  Dick,  who  was  ordained 
in  1762,  was  the  minister  of  St.  Margarett's.  After  the  disappear- 
ance of  Mr.  Dick  from  the  journals  in  1787,  we  know  of  no  other 
regular  minister  in  St.  Margarett's  until  the  year  1829,  when  the 
Rev.  Caleb  Good  represents  this  parish, — as  also  in  1830.  His 
zealous  labours  contributed  not  a  little  to  revive  the  hopes  of  the 
Episcopalians  in  that  parish.  Services  were  from  time  to  time 
afforded  to  Bull  Church,  or  St.  Margarett's,  by  neighbouring 
ministers  ;  and  after  some  time  a  church  was  built  at  the  Bowling 
Green,  which,  whether  in  St.  Margarett's  or  St.  Mary's  parish,  was 
connected  with  the  congregation  in  St.  Margarett's.  In  1833,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Friend  became  the  minister  of  St.  Margarett's,  and  con- 
tinued so  for  some  years,  until  his  removal  to  St.  Mary's  of  the 
same  county.  Since  the  removal  of  Mr.  Friend,  St.  Margarett's 
has  been  connected  with  Berkeley  parish  in  Spottsylvania  county, 
first  and  for  some  years  under  the  charge  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ward, 
until  his  removal  to  Westmoreland,  and  then  of  the  Rev.  Dabney 
Wharton,  its  present  minister.  We  have  no  old  vestry-books  from 
which  to  learn  who  were  the  early  friends  of  the  Church  in  this 
region.  We  can  only  mention  the  names  of  a  few  families  known 
to  ourself, — the  Temples,  Tompkinses,  Swans,  Hallidays,  Rawlings, 
Minors,  Hills,  Harts,  Keans,  Leavills,  Phillipses,  Dickensons,  Har- 
rises, Nelsons,  Fontanes, — as  now  belonging  to  this  part  of  Caroline 
and  Spottsylvania. 

PARISHES   OF   DRYSDALE   AND   ST.    ASAPH,   IN   CAROLINE    COUNTY. 

These  parishes  have  long  since  been  deserted  of  Episcopalians, 
and  can  soon  be  disposed  of.  That  of  Drysdale  was,  it  is  sup- 
posed, cut  off  from  St.  Mary's  in  1713.  St.  Asaph  was  taken 
from  Drysdale,  which  lay  partly  in  Caroline  and  partly  in  King 


414 


OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 


William,  in  the  year  1779.  Drysdale  parish,  thus  reduced,  lay 
alongside  of  Essex  and  St.  Asaph,  toward  Hanover  county. 

In  the  years  1754  and  1758,  we  find  the  Rev.  Robert  Innes 
minister  of  Drysdale  parish.  In  the  year  1774,  the  Rev.  Andrew 
Moreton.  In  the  year  1776,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Shield.  In  the 
years  1785  and  1787  and  1789,  the  Rev.  Jesse  Carter  represents 
the  parish  in  the  Convention,  since  which  time  we  hear  nothing  of 
the  parish.  Mr.  William  Lyne  appears  during  this  time  to  have 
been  a  faithful  lay  delegate. 

St.  Asaph  parish,  as  we  have  seen,  was  established  in  1779, 
during  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  We  can  only  look  for  any  ac- 
count of  this  parish,  in  the  absence  of  a  vestry-book,  to  the  jour- 
nals of  our  Conventions,  which  began  in  1785,  after  the  close  of 
the  war.  In  the  year  1785,  we  find  it  represented  by  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Shield  and  Mr.  John  Page,  Jr.  In  the  year  1786,  by  the 
Rev.  James  Taylor  and  Mr.  John  Page.  In  the  year  1787,  by  the 
Rev.  James  Taylor  and  Mr.  John  Baylor.  In  the  year  1796,  by 
the  Rev.  George  Spirrin  and  Mr.  John  Woolfolk.  St.  Asaph  only 
appears  these  four  times  on  our  journals. 

Within  the  bounds  of  this  parish  after  the  separation,  and  in 
Drysdale  before  that  time,  lived  Mr.  Edmund  Pendleton,  President 
of  the  Court  of  Appeals,  of  whom  we  have  previously  spoken  as  a  sin- 
cere Christian  and  steady  friend  of  the  Church.  Were  any  vestry- 
books  of  Caroline  county  to  be  found,  there  can  be  no  doubt  his  name 
would  be  there.  He  was  the  clerk  of  the  vestry,  he  himself  informs 
us,  when  a  mere  boy.  Should  it  be  asked  why  his  name  never  ap- 
pears on  our  journals  of  Convention  with  those  of  Governors  Wood 
and  Page,  and  the  Nelsons  and  Carys,  and  other  patriots  of  the 
Revolution,  it  would  be  sufficient  to  conjecture  that  his  heavy  duties 
as  judge  prevented;  but  it  is  made  certain  by  the  following  letter 
to  Richard  Henry  Lee,  which  has  been  sent  me  by  a  friend : — 

Extract  of  a  Letter  from  Edmund  Pendleton  to  Richard  Henry  Lee, 
June  13,  1785. 

"  You  have  heard  of  a  Convention  of  the  clergy  and  laity  of  our  Epis- 
copal Church  last  month.  I  was  not  able  to  attend  it,  but  was  pleased  to 
learn  that  the  members  were  truly  respectable,  and  their  proceedings  wise 
and  temperate.  Their  journal  is  not  yet  printed,  but  I  am  told  it  con- 
tains rules  for  the  government  of  the  clergy,  and  the  appointment  of 
deputies  to  represent  us  in  a  Federal  Convention  to  be  held  in  Philadel- 
phia in  September  next,  to  whom  it  is  referred  to  revise  and  reform  our 
Liturgy.  Mr.  Page,  of  Rosewell,  and  your  brother,  of  Greenspring,  [Mr. 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  415 

William  Lee,]  are  the  lay  deputies,  and  the  Revs.  Mr.  Griffith  and 
McCrosky  the  clerical.  What  is  become  of  Bishop  Seabury,  and  how  is 
he  received  in  Connecticut  ?  One  would  not  have  expected  that  the  first 
American  Bishop  had  come  to  New  England." 

I  am  happy  also  to  be  able  to  furnish  another  document  from  the 
pen  of  Judge  Pendleton,  toward  the  close  of  his  life,  on  a  subject 
of  as  deep  interest  at  the  present  as  at  that  time.  It  is  a  petition,  in 
his  own  well-known  handwriting,  and  with  his  own  name  at  the  head 
of  it,  from  the  inhabitants  of  Caroline,  addressed  to  the  Legislature, 
praying  it  to  take  into  consideration  the  evils  of  treating  the  voters 
at  annual  elections  with  intoxicating  drink.  The  names  of  the 
signers  are  those  of  the  most  respectable  citizens  of  Caroline 
county.  The  committee  to  whom  it  was  referred  in  the  House 
were  also  the  most  eminent  men  of  Virginia,  viz. : — Messrs.  Vena- 
ble,  Mathews,  Ellzey,  Jennings,  Hill,  Shield,  and  John  Taylor. 

The  petition  is  as  follows : — 

"  To  the  Honourable  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Virginia,  the 
subscribers,  inhabitants  of  the  county  of  Caroline,  beg  leave  to  represent, 
that,  beholding  with  concern  the  growth  of  a  species  of  corruption  at  elec- 
tions, commonly  called  treating,  as  having  a  tendency  to  destroy  national 
principles  and  individual  morals,  they  presume  to  submit  the  following 
considerations  to  legislative  deliberation  : — 1st.  Whether  the  best  mode  of 
enabling  electors  to  judge  of  a  candidate's  qualifications  is  to  deprive  them 
of  their  senses.  2d.  Whether  corrupting  and  being  corrupted  is  calcu- 
lated to  produce  sentiments  of  confidence  between  the  people  and  their 
representatives.  3d.  Whether  true  patriotism  can  exist  on  any  other  foun- 
dation than  such  confidence  and  esteem.  4th.  Whether,  in  order  to  bring 
merit  into  preference,  success  should  depend  on  expense.  5th.  Whether, 
if  a  political  body  should  appear,  where  wealth  grew  out  of  public  spoils, 
until  it  was  beyond  competition,  a  check  upon  its  pernicious  influence  will 
be  erected  by  a  consignment  of  legislation  to  riches.  6th.  Whether 
liberty  will  be  considered  inestimable  by  those  who  are  in  the  habit  of 
selling  it  for  a  bottle  of  rum.  7th.  Whether  the  dispensation  of  corrup- 
tion is  likely  to  steel  the  mind  of  the  elected  against  its  introduction,  in 
the  exercise  of  several  elective  functions  confided  to  the  representatives 
of  the  people.  8th.  Whether  the  consequences  experienced  from  a  sep- 
tennial repetition  (as  in  England)  of  the  practice  we  deprecate  are  suf- 
ficient to  justify  it  as  an  annual  custom,  and  whether  virtue  or  vice  is  the 
safest  basis  for  a  republican  government. 

"If  the  Legislature  shall  view  this  mischief  in  the  light  we  see  it, 
we  refer  it  to  their  wisdom  as  calling  loudly  for  an  effectual  legislative 
remedy ;  and  we  pledge  ourselves  to  support  an  energetic  law  by  with- 
holding our  suffrages  from  all  who  shall  infringe  it.  Edmund  Pendle- 
ton, James  Taylor,  William  Jones,  Edmund  Pendleton,  Jr.,  Anthony 
Thornton,  Charles  Todd,  Anthony  New,  Daniel  Coleman,  Henry  Chiles, 
John  Baylor,  Mungo  Roy,  P.  Woolfolk,  John  Minor,  Jr.,  John  Pendle- 
ton, Jr.,  George  Gray,  Norborne  Taliafero,  William  Stewart,  Thomas  Kidd. 


416  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

David  Dickerson,  Philip  Slaughter,  John  Walden,  Robert  Tompkins, 
Edmund  Chapman,  George  Terrill,  R.  R.  Tyler,  J.  Woolfolk,  Thomas 
Harris." 

Let  us  consider  the  above  petition,  and  think  upon  its  signers  for 
a  moment.  If  such  a  paper  were  now  drawn  up  and  signed  by  a 
number  of  persons,  no  matter  how  conscientiously,  there  are  those 
who  would  regard  it  either  as  fanatical  or  as  an  assault  on  individual 
rights  and  liberty,  and  say,  We  will  sign  no  such  paper  and  come 
under  no  such  pledge,  but  will  vote  for  whomsoever  we  please,  even 
though  they  or  their  friends  liberally  treat  with  the  intoxicating 
draught.  But  how  encouraging  and  strengthening  it  is  to  know 
that  old  Edmund  Pendleton  and  many  of  the  best  men  of  Caroline 
county  and  Virginia,  who  had  just  come  out  of  the  war  of  the 
Revolution,  and  certainly  had  some  just  views  of  true  liberty,  did 
thus  denounce  an  approaching  evil,  and  call  upon  the  Legislature 
to  enact  rigid  laws  against  it,  promising  to  sustain  the  same  by 
their  voices  on  the  day  of  election !  There  is  something  of  a  moral 
grandeur  about  this  movement  of  the  venerable  Pendleton  and  of 
his  most  respectable  countymen  which  is  worthy  of  admiration 
and  imitation.  Were  he  now  living,  we  might  surely  calculate  on 
his  support  of  any  wise  and  practical  measure  for  the  prevention 
not  only  of  the  one  mentioned  in  the  memorial,  but  of  the  nume- 
rous and  most  destructive  evils  of  intoxicating  drinks. 

The  following  extract  from  the  letter  of  a  friend  furnishes  some 
additional  information  concerning  St.  Margarett's  parish  : — 

"  The  Rev.  Mr.  Dick  left  one  son  bearing  his  name,  who  lived  and  died 
in  this  county;  also  two  daughters, — one  who  married  Mr.  Vivian  Minor, 
and  who  lived  to  a  good  old  age,  and  retained  to  the  time  of  her  death  a 
warm  attachment  to  the  Episcopal  Church,  travelling  the  distance  of  twelve 
miles  to  St.  Margarett's,  whenever  its  pulpit  was  filled,  generally  reaching 
it  before  those  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood, — and  this  after  she  was 
seventy  years  old.  The  other  daughter  married  Mr.  Robert  Hart,  of 
Spottsylvania,  and  also  with  her  descendants  continued  true  to  the  Church 
of  her  fathers.  Mr.  Boggs  preached  in  this  church  for  thirty  years.  In 
the  year  1825,  the  Female  Missionary  Society  of  Fredericksburg  sent  Mr. 
John  McGuire  to  preach  for  us,  hoping  to  build  up  our  waste  places.  By 
the  blessing  of  God  on  this  effort,  a  considerable  interest  was  manifested 
by  the  few  remaining  members  and  others,  and  his  preaching  was  attended 
by  crowds,  generally.  The  church  was  then  in  a  very  dilapidated  condi- 
tion, but  was  soon  after  repaired.  After  Mr.  McGuire  located  himself  in 
Essex,  the  vestry  called  the  Rev.  Leonard  H.  Johns,  who  ministered  to 
them  for  two  years.  It  was  during  this  time  that  more  members  were 
added,  to  the  Church  than  at  any  other;  but  most  of  them  were,  I  be- 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  417 

lieve,  the  seals  of  Mr.  McGuire's  ministry,  though  Mr.  Johns' s  was  very 
acceptable,  and  much  beloved  by  all.  Mr.  Good  succeeded  Mr.  Johns 
early  in  the  year  1829,  and  remained  until  1831,  when  he  was  compelled 
by  ill  health  to  leave  the  parish,  much  to  the  regret  of  all  who  knew  him. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Cooke  officiated  frequently  for  us  while  we  were  without  a 
minister.  In  July,  1832,  Mr.  Friend  became  our  pastor :  he  continued 
to  preach  till  June,  1835,  in  which  time  the  St.  Margarett's  Church  under- 
went considerable  repairs  and  the  church  at  the  Bowling  Green  was 
built.  Mr.  Ward  followed  Mr.  Friend  and  remained  till  1840,  when  the 
Rev.  St.  M.  Fackler  took  his  place,  continuing  with  us  two  years.  The 
Rev.  D.  M.  Wharton  took  charge  of  this  and  the  churches  in  Spottsyl- 
vania  in  the  fall  of  1843." 

The  following  letter  from  the  Rev.  H.  M.  Denison,  formerly  of 
Virginia,  deserves  a  place  in  the  article  on  Drysdale  parish : — 

"LOUISVILLE,  April  29,  1856. 

"  MY  DEAR  BISHOP  : — I  have  read  with  deep  interest  your  account  of 
many  of  the  old  churches  and  families  of  Virginia.  Having  just  risen 
from  the  perusal  of  that  on  York-Hampton  parish,  it  seems  to  me  that  you 
have  not  given  all  the  credit  it  deserves  to  the  character  of  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Shield. 

"  He  was  a  clergyman  of  high  character,  and  was  a  competitor  with 
Bishop  Madison  for  the  Episcopate.  He  had  at  one  time  charge  of  Drys- 
dale parish,  (now  unrepresented  in  Convention,)  lying  in  Caroline  and  the 
adjoining  counties.  He  was  great-uncle,  I  think,  to  the  Rev.  Charles 
Shield,  grandfather  of  Dr.  Samuel  Shield,  of  Hampton,  a  worthy  son  of 

our  Church,   grandfather  to  Mrs.  Colonel  McCandlish,  of  W ,   and 

grandfather  to  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  Edmund  Murdaugh ;  so  that  the 
succession,  both  Christian  and  ministerial,  is  kept  up  in  his  family.  But 
I  take  up  my  pen  to  mention  to  you  the  following  incident,  which  will 
not  be  uninteresting  to  you  even  if  it  be  without  the  scope  of  your  pub- 
lished reminiscences. 

"  After  the  massacre  by  the  British  and  Indians  of  a  large  portion  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  lovely  Valley  of  Wyoming  in  Pennsylvania,  the  pa- 
rishioners of  Drysdale,  through  their  rector,  Mr.  Shield,  as  almoner,  sent 
to  the  destitute  and  helpless  women  and  children  of  the  Valley  the  hand- 
some sum  (for  those  days)  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  dollars  to  relieve 
their  necessities.  The  transaction  is  thus  recorded  in  the  History  of 
Wyoming,  by  the  Hon.  Charles  Miner : — 

"  At  a  town-meeting  held  in  Wyoming  on  the  20th  of  April,  1780,  it 
was — 

"  {  Voted,  That  whereas  the  parish  of  Dresden,  [for  Drysdale,]  in  the  State 
of  Virginia,  have  contributed  and  sent  one  hundred  and  eighty  dollars  for 
the  support  of  the  distressed  inhabitants  of  this  town,  [Wilkesbarre,]  that 
the  Selectmen  be  directed  to  distribute  said  money  to  those  they  shall  judge 
the  most  necessitated,  and  report  to  the  town  at  some  future  meeting. 

" '  Voted,  That  Colonel  Nathan  Denison  return  the  thanks  of  this  town 
to  the  parish  of  Dresden  in  the  State  of  Virginia,  for  their  charitable  dis- 
position in  presenting  the  distressed  inhabitants  of  this  town  with  one 
hundred  and  eighty  dollars/ 

27 


418  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

"  Some  five  or  six  years  «go  I  was  at  Dr.  Samuel  Shield's,  in  Hampton, 
and  the  doctor  told  me  he  had  discovered  my  name  among  his  grand- 
father's papers;  and  upon  examination  I  found  the  original  letter  of 
thanks  written  by  my  grandfather,  Colonel  Denison,  to  his  grandfather,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Shield.  It  was  threescore  and  ten  years  of  age,  but  had  evi- 
dently been  preserved  with  much  care;  and  I  sent  it  at  once  to  Mr.  Miner, 
the  historian.  Very  sincerely,  but  unworthily,  your  son  in  the  Gospel. 

"  H.  M.  DENISON." 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA. 


ARTICLE  XXXVIII. 

Parishes  in  Hanover  County. — No.  1.  St.  Paul's  and  St.  Martin's. 

THIS  was  separated  from  New  Kent  county  in  the  year  1720,  and 
the  parish  called  St.  Paul's.  Its  first  minister  was  the  Rev.  Zacha- 
riah  Brooke,  who  was  still  vicar  of  Hawkston  and  Newton  in  Eng- 
land, leaving  a  curate  there.  In  1724  he  informs  the  Bishop  of 
London  that  his  parish  is  sixty  miles  in  length  and  twelve  in  width, 
(before  Louisa  county  was  cut  off;)  that  there  were  twelve  hundred 
families  in  it;  two  churches  and  two  chapels,  at  the  former  of  which 
he  preached  on  the  Sabbaths,  and  at  the  latter  during  the  days  of 
the  week ;  that  there  were  about  one  hundred  communicants  at  the 
churches, — at  each  church,  I  suppose,  though  it  is  not  clear ;  that 
the  glebe  and  glebe-house  were  only  worth  the  casks, — that  is,  the 
hogsheads  in  which  the  tobacco  was  put  up,  and  which  he  received 
in  lieu  of  them.  Of  the  previous  ministers  we  shall  speak  when 
treating  of  the  parish  of  New  Kent,  from  which  it  was  divided  in 
1720.  How  long  Mr.  Brooke  continued,  I  cannot  ascertain.  In 
the  year  1738,  fourteen  years  later,  I  find  the  following  letter  from 
the  Rev.  Charles  Bridges,  whose  spirit  breathes  something  of  that 
which  animates  the  present  minister  of  our  Mother-Church  bearing 
the  same  name.  It  is  addressed  to  the  Bishop  of  London : — 

"  MY  GOOD  BISHOP  : — The  little  good  I  find  I  am  capable  of  doing, 
without  your  particular  countenance,  in  first  subscribing  and  getting  sub- 
scriptions to  that  your  excellent  design  of  instructing  the  negroes  here, 
according  to  the  method  proposed,  and  pressing  the  Commissary  to  follow 
you,  and  solicit  the  Governor  and  his  interest, — I  say,  all  that  can  be  done 
in  this  affair  without  your  charitable  efforts  will,  1  fear,  to  my  great  con- 
cern, come  to  nothing.  The  Commissary  [Mr.  Blair]  and  I  grow  in  years, 
and  the  world  hangs  heavy  upon  us.  I  am  roused  sometimes  and  then 
call  upon  him,  and  then  he  is  asleep,  perhaps,  and  answers  nothing,  and  I 
am  ready  to  sleep  too.  Would  to  God  your  powerful  voice  would  sound 
in  our  ears,  to  get  up  and  be  doing  a  little  more  good  while  there  is  time 
and  opportunity,  which  would  make  us  thankful  to  your  goodness  for  so 
great  a  blessing,  and  especially  to  me,  your  obedient  and  most  dutiful 
servant,  CHARLES  BRIDGES." 

From  this  it  would  seem  that  he  was  much  interested  in  the  wel- 
fare of  the  servants,  and  doubtless  made  efforts  in  their  behalf,  as 


$ 

420  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

others  of  the  clergy  (from  the  reports  to  the  Bishop  of  London 
in  1724)  appear  to  have  done,  though,  it  is  to  be  feared,  feebly 
and  with  but  little  success.     Many  of  the  coloured  children  were 
baptized,  and   some  of  them   taught   the  catechism.      How  long 
Mr.  Bridges  continued  the  minister  in  St.  Paul's  parish,  Hanover, 
I  cannot  say,  or  who  was  the  minister  in  the  other  parish, — St. 
Martin's, — for  another  had,  in  the  year  1726,  been  cut  off  from 
it  by  that  name;   but  in  the  year  1754  we   find  that  the  Rev. 
Patrick  Henry  was  the  minister  of  St.  Paul's,  and  the  Rev.  Robert 
Barrett  of  St.  Martin's.     They  continued  such  until  the  year  1776. 
Indeed,  the  name  of  Robert  Barrett  appears  as  the  minister  of  St. 
Martin's  in  the  year  1785.     How  long  Mr.  Henry  continued  after 
1776  does  not  appear.     In  the  year  1789  the  Rev.  Peter  Nelson, 
of  the  same  name,  though  of  a  different  family,  from  those  who 
formed  a  part  of  his  congregation,  was  the  minister  of  St.  Martin's, 
and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Talley  was  minister  of  St.  Paul's.     Mr.  Nelson, 
according  to   the  journal,  was   minister  in  1799,  and  some  time 
after  that  united  himself  to  the  Baptist  Church.     The  Rev.  Mr. 
Talley  became  a  Universalist,  and  died  the  death  of  the  drunkard. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Boggs,  of  Spottsylvania,  occasionally  officiated  in 
St.  Martin's  parish  and  at  the  Fork  Church  after  this  for  some 
years ;  but  so  low  was  the  condition  of  the  Church,  and  so  few  dis- 
posed to  respond,  that  he  used  to  read  only  such  parts  as  needed 
no  response,  and  not  all  of  them.     Such  was  the  case  in  other 
parishes  also.     The  Rev.  Mr.  Hopkins,  of  Goochland,  during  a  part 
of  the  same  destitute  period  preached  in  Hollowing  Creek  Church, 
and  perhaps  Allen's  Creek  Church.     With  the  commencement  of 
the  resuscitation  of  the  Church  in  1812,  the  hopes  of  the  Episco- 
palians in   Hanover    began   to   revive.     In   1815   the   Rev.  John 
Philips  became  their  pastor.     He  was  an  Englishman  of  the  Wes- 
leyan  school,  and  was  ordained  for  our  Church  by  Bishop  Moore. 
There  were  some  things  so  peculiar  in  the  person  and  character  of 
Mr.  Philips,  that  they  deserve  notice.     His  person  was  the  most 
diminutive  I  ever  saw  or  heard  of  in  the  pulpit,  but  it  was  remark- 
able for  its  quickness  and  energy  of  action.     He  required  to  be 
elevated  on  a  high  block  or  platform  to  be  seen  at  all  in  the  pulpit. 
When  praying  in  private  houses  he  always  knelt  in  the  chair,  not 
by  it.     He  was  very  animated  in  preaching,  putting  his  soul  and 
voice  into  his  extempore  sermons.     He  was  ultra  Arminian  in  doc- 
trine, and  could  not  tolerate  Calvinists.     Had  he  lived  in  the  days 
of  Calvin,  or  even  later,  and  possessed  the  power,  he  would  have 
served  him  as  he  (Calvin)  did  Servetus.     As  it  was,  he  could  not 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  421 

refrain  from  denouncing  such  in  the  most  violent  and  offensive  terms, 
in  private  and  public,  much  to  the  injury  of  his  usefulness  and  to  the 
grief  of  his  friends.  But  he  was  a  faithful  and  conscientious  man, 
and  urged  to  repentance  and  faith  and  the  new  spiritual  birth  in 
the  most  earnest  and  effectual  manner,  on  the  Sabbath  and  from 
house  to  house.  Religion  was  with  him  the  fixed  idea, — the  one 
thing  needful.  He  could  talk  of  nothing  else,  for  he  knew  nothing 
else,  being  a  child  in  all  other  things.  Wherever  he  was,  this  was 
the  only  theme.  Nobody  expected  any  thing  else.  He  never  left 
a  house,  though  only  calling  for  a  few  moments,  without  what  he 
called  a  word  of  prayer.  On  his  visits  to  Richmond,  no  matter 
into  what  house  he  entered,  (and  he  entered  many  of  the  gay  and 
fashionable,  as  well  as  of  the  serious,)  he  would  say  at  parting,  "  Let 
us  have  a  word  of  prayer;"  and  then,  kneeling  in  a  chair,  would  offer 
up  a  most  fervent  and  special  prayer  for  the  members  of  the  same. 
Of  course,  there  were  those  who  amused  themselves  at  this  novel 
mode  of  proceeding,  but  there  were  those  who  felt  it  in  their  hearts, 
and  if  the  old  man  caused  smiles  in  some,  he  drew  tears  and  sighs 
from  others.  The  old  and  the  young  in  Hanover  felt  the  power 
of  his  ministry.  They  who  embraced  religion  as  presented  by  him 
embraced  it  as  the  power  of  God  to  the  salvation  of  the  soul.  His 
converts  were  genuine,  faithful,  true-hearted  ones.  They  saw  his 
defects,  but  felt  and  imitated  his  virtues.  They  saw  that  there  was 
such  a  thing  as  being  entirely  taken  up  with  the  service  of  God. 
During  the  few  years  he  spent  in  the  parish  an  entire  change  took 
place  there,  the  effects  of  which  are  felt  to  this  day.  The  manner 
of  his  death,  which  took  place  after  his  removal  to  Lunenburg,  was 
as  remarkable  as  that  of  his  life.  While  riding  in  a  plain  convey- 
ance with  Mrs.  Philips,  who  always  drove  him  about,  as  she  did 
many  other  things  for  him,  he  expired  without  her  knowledge, 
until,  stopping  at  a  tavern  to  water  the  horse  which  carried  them, 
it  was  discovered  that  he  was  sitting  by  her  side  a  lifeless  corpse. 
Although  it  would  be  great  folly  for  all  ministers  to  copy  after 
the  example  of  Mr.  Philips  in  all  things,  yet  it  would  be  well  for 
us  all  to  be  ever  seeking  after  his  entire  devotedness  of  spirit  to 
the  work  of  our  calling.  It  is  this  spirit  which  insures  the  favour 
both  of  God  and  man,  and  makes  those  of  humblest  talents  able 
ministers  of  the  New  Testament,  not  of  the  letter,  but  of  the  spirit. 
Mr.  Philips  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wydown,  who  con- 
tinued two  or  three  years,  and  was  followed  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Barns, 
who,  after  labouring  two  years,  was  obliged  to  desist  from  ill  health. 
To  him  succeeded  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cook,  who  was  the  minister  from 


422  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

1825  to  1834.  The  next  was  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bowers,  whose  ministry, 
commencing  soon  after  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Cook,  continued 
until  a  few  years  since.  The  present  minister  is  the  Rev.  Horace 
Stringfellow.  There  being  no  remnant  left  of  the  old  vestry-book 
of  this  parish,  I  am  unable  to  furnish  a  list  of  those  who  in  its 
earlier  days  took  the  most  active  part  in  its  concerns,  and  whose 
families  composed  its  congregations.  I  can  only  speak  of  some  few 
from  my  own  recollection  and  knowledge.  In  my  first  visits  to  the 
parish,  the  aged  forms  of  old  Captains  Shephard  and  Price  pre- 
sented themselves  as  the  last  of  a  race  of  old  lovers  of  our  com- 
munion. Their  memory  is  held  in  high  esteem,  and  many  of  their 
descendants  honour  them  by  adhering  to  the  Church  of  their  ances- 
tors. Dr.  Carter  Berkeley,  whose  name  may  be  so  often  seen  on 
the  Convention  journals  of  the  last  and  present  century,  and  also 
on  those  of  our  General  Convention,  is  too  well  remembered  to  be 
more  than  mentioned.  Of  his  mother,  of  Airwell,  a  descendant  of 
the  Carters,  inheriting  all  their  devotion  to  the  Church,  one  cir- 
cumstance is  too  interesting  to  be  omitted.  Airwell,  the  family 
seat  of  the  Berkeleys,  was  the  place  where  the  communion-plate 
was  kept.  After  the  death  of  Mr.  Berkeley,  and  death  or  resig- 
nation of  the  minister,  by  which,  under  the  law,  the  glebes  were 
forfeited,  the  overseers  of  the  poor  wished  to  do  what  was  done  in 
florae  other  parishes, — viz.:  bring  the  sacred  vessels  under  the  ope- 
ration of  that  act,  but  which  in  other  parishes  was  scorned  to  be 
done.  Those  in  Hanover,  however,  well  knowing  not  only  the 
pious  attachment  of  Mrs.  Berkeley  to  every  thing  belonging  to  the 
Church,  but  that  she  was  a  lady  of  dignity,  firmness,  and  authority, 
instead  of  appearing  in  person  to  demand  the  plate,  sent  an  em- 
bassy to  her  for  the  purpose,  through  whom  she  returned  this  an- 
swer:— "Tell  the  gentlemen  to  come  and  take  them."  They  never 
came,  and  the  vessels  are  now  in  use  on  every  communion-day,  in 
St.  Martin's  parish,  Hanover.  I  cannot  forbear  remarking  that 
there  is  no  part  of  the  conduct  of  the  opponents  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  which  appears  so  unamiable  and  unjustifiable  as  that  in 
regard  to  the  Church  plate.  It  was  almost  always  a  private  dona- 
tion, as  the  vestry-books  and  the  inscriptions  show,  and  even  if  it 
had  not  been,  the  framers  and  supporters  of  the  law  would  have 
felt  themselves  insulted,  if  the  insinuation  had  been  made  at  the 
time  of  its  passage  that  such  an  application  of  it  would  be  made. 
But  numerous  instances  have  occurred  in  which  such  application 
has  been  made,  while  too  many  have  been  the  cases  where  indi- 
viduals have  seized  upon  them  and  made  way  with  them  for  their 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  423 

private  benefit.  Returning  from  this  digression,  I  would  add  to 
the  list  of  true  friends  of  religion  and  our  Church  the  families  of 
the  Fontaines,  descendants  of  the  good  old  Huguenot  of  whom  I 
have  jet  to  speak ;  of  the  Nelsons,  connected  with  the  minister  of 
whom  I  have  already  spoken,  but  who  did  not  follow  his  example ; 
of  the  Morrises,  the  Wickams,  Taylors,  Winstons,  Pollards,  Robin- 
sons, Pages,  Prices,  Shepherds,  and  others. 

I  must  also  add  a  few  words  concerning  the  widow  of  General 
Nelson.  The  old  lady  (who  was  blind  for  the  last  seventeen  years 
of  her  life,  and  who  lived  a  much  longer  period  than  that  in  Hano- 
ver) was  an  example  of  the  sweetest  piety.  We  have  said  on  a 
former  occasion  that  we  often  administered  the  Holy  Communion  to 
her  and  numbers  of  her  descendants  in  her  room,  and  on  one  occa- 
sion to  more  than  forty,  in  that  and  the  passage  adjoining,  nearly 
all  of  whom  were  her  children,  grandchildren,  and  great-grand- 
children. I  omitted  to  mention  one  constant  recipient  of  the  sacra- 
ment,—her  old  and  venerable  servant,  the  only  property  she  had 
in  the  world,  for  the  house  in  which  she  lived,  humble  as  it  was, 
was  not  her  own,  and  the  small  funds  she  annually  received  were 
the  interest  of  a  few  thousand  dollars  which  at  her  death  belonged 
to  some  kind  creditors  of  General  Nelson,  who  allowed  her  the  use 
of  it  during  life.  This  servant  was  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church, 
who  thought  the  rule  which  forbade  intercommunion  with  others 
was  more  honoured  in  the  breach  than  in  the  observance.  Having 
been  taught  to  read,  and  reading  well,  she  was  a  great  comfort  to 
her  mistress,  and  read  to  her  all  the  best  books  on  religious  subjects 
as  they  appeared,  during  many  of  the  last  years  of  her  life.  At 
her  death,  she  bequeathed  to  this  servant  all  she  had  to  bequeath, — 
her  freedom, — well  knowing  that  the  whole  family  would  see  that 
freedom  should  not  become  poverty  and  want  to  her.  There  was, 
indeed,  one  small  legacy  she  had  been  saving ;  it  was  twenty  dol- 
lars, which  was  found  carefully  enfolded,  with  a  direction  that  it  be 
given  to  her  minister.  In  proof  of  the  rigid  economy  she  had 
practised,  and  the  strict  principle  on  which  she  had  practised  it,  it 
is  not  unworthy  of  being  told,  that  only  a  few  nights  before  her 
death,  and  when  a  number  of  her  children  and  descendants  were 
sitting  around  the  fire,  and  supposing  she  was  asleep,  the  silence 
was  broken  by  her  saying,  "Don't  bury  me  in  my  new  gown," 
to  which  one  of  them  playfully  replied,  "  Oh,  no ;  don't  be  troubled : 
we  will  put  all  the  old  rags  around  you  that  we  can  find.'*  Her 
remains  lie  buried  at  the  east  end  of  the  Old  Fork  Church  in  the 


424 


OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 


midst  of  a  number  of  the  family.  *  As  my  object  is  to  seek  to  do 
good,  by  referring  to  excellent  traits  in  the  character  of  some  of 
the  best  members  of  our  Church,  I  must  add  a  few  words  concern- 
ing one  of  the  sons  of  this  venerable  lady.  There  are  still  some 

*  In  connection  with  old  Mrs.  Nelson,  the  following  circumstance  deserves  to  be 
mentioned,  not  more  to  show  the  patriotic  spirit  which  animated  the  breasts  of 
young  and  old  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  but  chiefly  to  illustrate  the  parental 
authority  and  filial  submission  which  characterized  the  days  of  our  forefathers. 
When  the  British  were  about  landing  on  James  River,  and  Yorktown  was  peculiarly 
exposed,  General  Nelson,  then  in  arms  against  them,  was  obliged  to  send  Mrs.  Nel- 
son, with  an  infant  three  weeks  old,  to  the  upper  country.  When  near  Williams- 
burg  she  met  a  company  of  youths,  some  of  them  mere  boys,  armed  with  their  guns, 
and  marching  down  to  fire  at  the  enemy.  On  meeting  the  well-known  old  English 
coach,  they  halted  and  presented  arms  to  Mrs.  Nelson,  wishing  to  show  her  all 
honour.  She  received  their  salutation  very  courteously,  but,  perceiving  among  them 
two  of  her  own  sons,  mere  boys  at  the  preparatory  school,  she  directed  the  coach- 
man to  stop,  and,  opening  the  door,  requested  them  to  enter  the  carriage.  Mortify- 
ing as  it  must  have  been  to  them,  they  were  too  much  accustomed  to  obey  to  think 
of  refusing.  Taking  them  with  her,  she  sent  them  to  Philadelphia  to  complete  their 
education,  placing  them  under  the  care  of  Mr.  Rittenhouse.  One  of  these  youths, 
Mr.  Thomas  Nelson,  was  afterward  private  secretary  to  General  Washington  while 
President,  and  a  great  favourite  with  him  and  Mrs.  Washington.  This  is  only  one 
of  a  thousand  instances  which  might  be  adduced  to  prove  that,  however  we  may  in 
in  some  respects  have  improved  on  the  manners  and  habits  of  our  ancestors,  we 
certainly  have  not  in  the  prompt  submission  to  the  will  of  parents  and  authority  of 
teachers.  The  Revolution,  with  all  its  blessings,  has  nevertheless  been  attended 
with  one  evil, — that  of  insubordination  to  those  in  authority,  whether  parents  or 
others.  I  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  of  one  of  the  old  clergy,  who,  though  im- 
portuned to  resume  the  office  of  teacher  after  the  establishment  of  our  independence, 
could  not  be  prevailed  on  to  undertake  it,  saying  that  it  was  hard  enough  to  govern 
boys  before,  but  as  for  these  little  democrats  he  would  have  nothing  to  do  with 
them.  So  important  do  I  deem  this  subject,  that,  at  the  risk  of  seeming  to  be  very 
egotistical,  as  I  must  have  often  done  already,  I  add  the  following.  Soon  after  my 
father's  death  my  mother  sent  me  to  Princeton  College.  While  there,  the  great  re- 
bellion took  place,  in  which  one  hundred  and  fifty  out  of  two  hundred  took  part, 
and  for  which  they  were  all  sent  home.  Being  among  the  dismissed,  and  returning 
home  and  unable  to  justify  the  act,  my  mother,  who  was  of  the  old  Virginia  school, 
hesitated  not  to  send  me  back  again,  with  acknowledgment  of  error  and  promise  of 
future  good  behaviour.  Nor  did  I  hesitate  to  obey,  for  the  habit  of  submission  to 
her  authority  had  been  established  from  my  earliest  years.  There  were  fifty  other 
sons  at  that  time  whose  parents  or  guardians  adopted  the  same  course.  I  fear  that 
it  would  be  difficult  now  to  find  many  who  would  follow  their  example,  even  in  re- 
lation to  the  misconduct  of  boys  at  a  high-school,  so  independent  have  our  sons 
become.  I  am  not  given  to  croaking,  or  to  complaining  that  "the  former  days  were 
better  than  these,"  as  I  believe  the  contrary  to  be  true  ;  but  in  this  respect  I  believe 
there  is  a  deterioration.  It  is  due  to  those  who  were  concerned  in  the  above-men- 
tioned rebellion,  to  say  that,  with  a  few  exceptions,  there  probably  never  was  a  col- 
legiate outbreak  in  which  there  was  less  guilt  than  in  this,  by  reason  of  misunder- 
standing and  the  artful  imposition  of  some  ringleaders.  Still,  it  was  hard  to  retract 
and  ask  pardon. 


FAMILIES   OP  VIRGINIA. 


425 


of  us  remaining  who  remember  old  Mr.  Francis  Nelson  as  the  fre- 
quent delegate  from  this  parish.  He  married  one  of  the  descendants 
of  the  old  Mr.  Page  of  whom  we  have  spoken.  They  had  fourteen 
children,  to  whom  by  good  management  they  contrived  to  give 
respectable  educations,  though  living  on  a  poor  Hanover  farm. 
Unable  to  afford  other  conveyance  than  a  farm-wagon  with  four 
mules,  his  family  was  punctually  at  church  in  that,  when  the 
weather  would  allow,  himself  being  on  horseback.  The  great  se- 
cret of  his  bringing  up  such  a  family  on  such  a  farm  was,  a  con- 
scientious determination  to  live  on  its  proceeds  and  never  run  in 
debt.  He  was  himself  an  example  of  that  self-denial  which  he  re- 
quired of  his  children.  If  the  allowance  of  tobacco  raised  on  his 
own  farm  and  set  apart  for  his  own  use  failed  before  another  crop, 
and  he  had  not  the  money  to  pay  for  more,  he  did  without  it.  If 
tea  or  coffee  could  not  be  had  for  the  elder  members  of  the  family, 
as  was  often  the  case,  milk  served  in  their  stead;  if  there  was  not 
milk  enough  for  the  children,  water  supplied  its  place.  Thus  did 
he  live  and  die  without  debt.  And,  what  is  more  worthy  of  notice 
than  any  thing  else,  all  of  his  fourteen  children  entered  into  full 
communion  with  the  Church  of  their  parents.  I  conclude  this  part 
of  the  article  on  Hanover  by  stating  that  this  parish,  though  small, 
has  furnished  four  ministers  to  the  Church, — the  Revs.  W.  N.  Pen- 
dleton,  Washington  Nelson,  Robert  Nelson,  and  Farley  Berkeley. 
It  ought  *to  have  furnished  many  more,  but  I  could  wish  they  had 
all  done  as  well.  In  my  next,  I  shall  consider  what  occurred  in 
this  county  in  relation  to  the  Rev.  Samuel  Davies,  and  the  esta- 
blishment of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  same,  with  a  review 
of  what  is  ascribed  to  the  Episcopal  Church  in  the  way  of  intole- 
rance. 


426 


OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 


ARTICLE  XXXIX. 

Parishes  in  Hanover. — No.  2. 

THE  history  of  the  treatment  of  other  denominations  of  Chris- 
tians by  the  Government  and  Church  of  Virginia  deserves  a 
special  consideration ;  and  I  know  not  where,  in  the  progress  of 
my  sketches,  it  can  be  more  properly  examined  than  in  connection 
with  the  history  of  this  parish.  That  the  Episcopalians  of  Vir- 
ginia should,  from  the  first,  have  shared  in  the  spirit  of  the  age, 
and  been  sometimes  guilty  of  such  an  exclusive  course  as  marked 
the  Church  of  England,  of  Scotland,  and  of  New  England,  and 
which  all  in  this  age  of  toleration  unite  in  condemning,  was  to  be 
expected;  but  it  is  not  fair  that  she  should  be  loaded  with  a 
heavier  reproach  than  was  merited.  From  a  pretty  extensive — 
and,  we  think,  impartial — examination  of  the  subject,  we  are 
firmly  persuaded  that  her  misconduct  in  this  respect  has  been 
greatly  exaggerated,  and  is  much  misunderstood  to  this  day,  even 
by  some  of  her  most  attached  friends.  The  press,  the  pulpit,  and 
the  fireside  have  been,  for  more  than  a  century,  accustomed  to 
retail  instances  of  imprisonment,  and  fines,  and  restraints,  colour- 
ing and  magnifying  them  according  to  the  temperament  of  the 
speaker,  until  many  have  been  impressed  with  the  belief  that  the 
bloody  persecutions  of  Nero,  in  the  first  ages,  were  not  more 
wicked.  I  remember  from  early  boyhood  to  have  heard,  from  the 
pulpit  and  elsewhere,  of  the  dreadful  persecution  of  a  worthy  old 
Dissenting  minister,  and  for  a  long  time  his  name  was  always 
associated  in  my  mind  with  stripes,  imprisonment,  and  the  shutting 
up  his  lips  from  preaching  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  During  the  last 
summer  I  happened  at  the  court-house,  where  whatever  proceedings 
took  place  must  have  been  recorded ;  and  I  asked  to  see  the  records 
of  the  same,  when  one  of  the  clerks,  being  a  descendant  of  the  old 
martyr,  with  a  smile  told  me  that  the  persecution  was  not  so  cruel 
as  some  had  supposed.  On  examination  of  the  record,  it  appeared 
that,  having  violated  the  Act  of  Toleration  and  preached  in  various 
places  of  the  parish  without  taking  out  a  license  for  the  same,  he 
had  been  presented  for  it,  summoned  before  the  court,  and  made 
to  give  a  small  security  for  the  observance  of  the  law  in  the 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  427 

future.  All  that  the  law  required  was,  to  ask  for  a  license  to 
preach  in  such  and  such  places,  and  it  was  freely  given.  I  have, 
during  my  life,  been  accustomed  to  hear  of  the  persecutions  of  the 
harmless  Quakers  in  Virginia  and  elsewhere,  and  have  ever  thought 
that  it  must  have  been  proof  of  a  most  uncharitable  spirit,  not  to 
make  the  largest  allowance  for  their  scruples,  and  not  only  permit 
them  without  molestation  to  worship  God  according  to  their  own 
consciences,  but  even  to  have  some  immunities  as  citizens  on  the 
same  account.  But  recent  investigations  have  convinced  me  that 
great  injustice  has  been  done  to  our  forefathers  in  the  imputation 
cast  upon  them  for  their  treatment  of  the  first  of  this  sect  who  came 
into  America.  I  have  been,  by  the  kindness  of  a  friend,  furnished 
with  extracts  from  the  records  of  the  Court  of  Accomac, — going 
back  to  the  year  1632,  the  oldest  documents  of  the  kind  in  Vir- 
ginia,— from  which  I  find  that,  between  1650  and  1660,  some 
persons  (called  Quakers)  appeared  in  that  part  of  Virginia,  and, 
after  a  time,  having  made  a  few  converts,  built  a  log-church, — only 
ten  feet  square,  so  small  was  their  number.  They  were  charged 
not  only  with  vilifying  the  ministers  and  disobeying  the  laws,  but 
with  blaspheming  God.  Witnesses,  in  open  court,  proved  their 
denial  that  Christ  was  ever  seen  in  the  flesh,  that  he  had  any 
humanity  about  him,  that  several  of  them  called  God  "  a  foolish 
old  man,"  and  other  names.  On  account  of  these  things  they 
were  ordered  to  be  sent  over  the  bay  to  the  Governor  and  Council. 
What  was  done  to  them  does  not  appear.  How  entirely  does  this 
change  the  aspect  of  the  case !  It  seems  they  were  sent  over  for 
trial,  not  for  dissenting  from  the  Church  of  England,  but  because 
they  were  disobedient  to  law,  wicked  men,  and  blasphemers. 
Were  this  the  only  testimony  against  them,  we  might  hope  some 
mistake  had  occurred ;  but,  both  before  and  after  this,  we  find  the 
Acts  of  Assembly  and  other  documents  speaking  of  some  belong- 
ing to  this  sect  as  lawless  persons,  disturbers  of  the  peace,  atheists, 
and  blasphemers.  Even  at  a  time  when  other  denominations — as 
the  Huguenots  and  German  Lutherans — were  not  only  tolerated  but 
patronized,  these  men  were  put  upon  the  same  footing  with  Papists. 
In  the  year '1711,  Governor  Spottswood,  in  a  letter  to  the  Lord- 
Commissioner,  speaks  of  them  as  much  embarrassing  the  Govern- 
ment, and  "  broaching  doctrines  so  monstrous  as  their  brethren  in 
England  never  owned,  and  which  cannot  be  suffered  in  any  govern- 
ment. They  have  not  only,"  he  says,  "  refused  to  work  themselves, 
or  suffer  any  of  their  servants  to  be  employed  in  the  fortifications, 
but  affirm  that  their  consciences  will  not  permit  them  to  contribute 


OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

in  any  manner  or  way  «to  the  defence  of  the  country,  even  so  much 
as  trusting  the  Government  for  provision  to  support  them  that  do 
work,  though  at  the  same  time  they  say  that,  being  obliged  by 
their  religion  to  feed  their  enemies,  if  the  French  should  come 
here  and  want  provisions,  they  must,  in  conscience,  supply  them." 
Governor  Spottswood  was  not  the  man  to  be  thus  dealt  with. 
Accordingly  he  says,  "  I  have,  therefore,  thought  it  necessary  to 
put  the  laws  in  force  against  them,  since  any  one  that  is  lazy  or 
cowardly  would  make  use  of  the  pretence  of  conscience  to  excuse 
himself  from  working  or  fighting  when  there  is  greatest  need  of  his 
service."  As  the  Quakers  became  a  more  respectable  body  in 
Virginia,  the  treatment  of  them  was  changed. 

I  must  make  the  same  remark  as  to  another  denomination  of 
Christians  in  Virginia,  who  were  generally  called — as  on  their  first 
appearance  in  Europe — Anabaptists,  and  were  a  very  different 
people  from  what  they  are  at  this  time.  In  the  year  1761,  the 
Rev.  James  Maury  addressed  a  printed  letter  of  some  length  to 
the  Christians  of  all  denominations  in  Virginia,  calling  upon  them 
to  unite  in  opposing  that  new  sect.  There  was  at  that  time  a 
considerable  number  of  Presbyterians  in  the  Valley,  and  some  in 
different  counties  in  Eastern  Virginia.  The  Methodists,  also,  had 
their  preachers  and  congregations.  The  ground  on  which  he  calls 
upon  them  to  unite  against  the  Anabaptists  was,  that  they  denied 
all  ordination,  and  claimed  that  every  one  had  a  right  to  preach, 
by  virtue  of  the  inspiration  of  the  Spirit,  and  that  they  were 
going  about,  without  any  licence,  disturbing  the  order  of  neigh- 
bourhoods and  churches  with  wild  doctrines.  Although  Mr. 
Maury  held  in  high  esteem  and  preference  the  Episcopal  ordina- 
tion, yet  he  considered  that  regularly-appointed  preachers  of  the 
other  Churches,  according  to  some  rule,  were  lawful  ministers,  of 
which  the  Baptists  at  that  time  had  none.  This  fact  I  mention 
to  show  that  the  first  opposition  made  to  the  Baptists  was  in  a 
measure  caused  and  strengthened  by  doctrines  and  practices 
which  they  themselves  would  now  hold  in  condemnation,  and  upon 
which  they  would  exercise  discipline.  That  their  preachers 
were  dealt  severely  with  in  some  instances  then,  and  perhaps  at 
a  later  date,  is  certainly  true ;  but  let  the  truth  also  be  admitted, 
that  it  was  the  State,  not  the  Church,  which  did  it;  that  the 
civil  magistrates,  not  the  clergy,  were  guilty;  that  the  offences 
which  were  the  cause  of  their  being  arraigned  were  offences 
against  laws  made  by  the  civil  legislature,  though  those  laws  had 
reference  to  religious  matters.  Let  it  also  be  remembered  how 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  429 

often  the  clergy  themselves  condemned  and  opposed  all  such  intei  • 
ference,  and  how,  when  an  appeal  was  made  to  the  Governor  and 
Council,  the  mildest  and  most  tolerant  construction  was  put  upon 
the  law,  and  the  magistrates  rebuked.  Mr.  Sample,  in  his  "  His- 
tory of  the  Baptists  of  Virginia,"  gives  some  instances  of  this. 
We  shall  also  see,  hereafter,  how  the  Bishop  of  London,  in  his 
own  behalf  and  that  of  the  whole  Church  of  England,  disavows 
having  any  thing  to  do  with  the  making  or  executing  laws  against 
Dissenters.  The  following  extract  from  the  address  of  Mr.  Maury 
will  show  of  what  spirit  he  was : — 

."'Tis  true,  the  author  acknowledges  himself  peculiarly  bound  by  ties 
of  duty,  as  he  is  prompted  by  inclination,  to  wish — and,  if  he  can,  to 
promote — the  prosperity  of  that  peculiar  Church  in  which  he  deems  it 
his  honour  and  happiness  to  minister.  Yet  be  just  enough  to  believe 
him,  when  he  declares  that  he  would  deem  it  no  small  addition  to 
that  honour  and  happiness,  could  he  be  an  instrument  of  furthering  in 
any  degree  the  spiritual  comfort  and  edification  of  any  one  honest  and 
well-disposed  person,  of  whatever  persuasion,  within  the  extensive  pale 
of  the  Catholic  Church  at  large;  that  he  hath  much  at  heart  the  eternal 
welfare  of  Dissenters  and  Conformists ;  and  that,  as  he  thinks  he  sees 
errors  in  both,  and  sincerely  laments  them,  so  he  is  disposed  cheerfully  to 
exert  his  endeavours,  weak  as  they  be.  at  best,  to  rectify  whatever  may 
be  blameworthy  in  either." 

Having  made  these  preliminary  remarks,  I  proceed  to  consider 
the  case  of  the  Bev.  Samuel  Davies  and  the  Presbyterians  of 
Hanover  county,  Virginia,  which  has  been  the  subject  of  much 
discussion.  I  introduce  it  by  the  following  address  of  five  Epis- 
copal clergymen,  in  Hanover  and  the  counties  around,  to  the 
House  of  Burgesses,  in  the  year : 

"ADDRESS  TO  THE  BURGESSES. 

"  To    the    Worshipful    the  Speaker    and-  Gentlemen  of   the   House   of 


"  The  humble  petition  of  some  of  the  Clergy  of  this  Dominion 
showeth  : — 

"  That  there  have  been  frequently  held  in  the  counties  of  Hanover, 
Henrico,  Gloochland,  and  some  others,  for  several  years  past,  numerous 
Assemblies,  especially  of  the  common  people,  upon  a  pretended  religious 
account, — convened  sometimes  by  merely  lay  enthusiasts,  who,  in  these 
meetings,  read  sundry  fanatical  books  and  used  long  extempore  prayers  and 
discourses, — sometimes  by  strolling,  pretended  ministers, — and  at  present 
by  one  Mr.  Samuel  Davies,  who  has  fixed  himself  in  Hanover;  and,  in  the 
counties  of  Amelia  and  Albemarle,  by  a  person  who  calls  himself  Mr.  Cen- 
nick,  well  known  in  England  by  his  intimacy  with  Mr.  Whitefield. 

"  That  though  these  teachers  and  their  adherents  (except  the  above- 
mentioned  Cennick)  assume  the  denomination  of  Presbyterians,  yet  we 


,80 


OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 


think  they  have  no  just  olaim  to  that  character,  as  the  ringleaders  of  the 
party  were,  for  their  erroneous  doctrines  and  practices,  excluded  the 
Presbyterian  Synod  of  Philadelphia  in  May,  1741,  (as  appears  by  an  ad- 
dress of  said  Synod  to  our  Governor;)  nor  have  they,  since  that  time, 
made  any  recantation  of  their  errors,  nor  been  readmitted  as  members  of 
that  Synod, — which  Synod,  though  of  many  years'  standing,  never  was 
reprehended  for  errors  in  doctrine,  discipline,  or  government,  either  by 
the  established  Kirk  of  Scotland,  the  Presbyterian  Dissenters  in  England, 
or  any  other  body  of  Presbyterians  whatsoever.  Whence  we  beg  leave 
to  conclude,  that  the  distinguishing  tenets  of  these  teachers  before  men- 
tioned are  of  dangerous  consequence  to  religion  in  general,  and  that  the 
authors  and  propagators  thereof  are  deservedly  stigmatized  with  a  name 
(New-Lights)  unknown  till  of  late  in  this  part  of  the  world. 

11  That  your  petitioners  further  humbly  conceive  that,  though  these 
excluded  members  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  were  really  Presbyterians, 
or  of  any  of  the  other  sects  tolerated  in  England,  yet  there  is  no  law  in  this 
Colony  by  virtue  whereof  they  can  be  entitled  to  a  license  to  preach,  far 
less  to  send  forth  their  emissaries,  or  to  travel  themselves  over  several 
counties,  (to  many  places  without  invitation,)  to  gain  proselytes  to  their 
way;  'to  inveigle  ignorant  and  unwary  people  with  their  sophistry;' 
and,  under  pretence  of  greater  degrees  of  piety  among  them  than  can  be 
found  among  the  members  of  the  Established  Church,  to  seduce  them  from 
their  lawful  teachers  and  the  religion  hitherto  professed  in  this  Dominion. 

"  Your  petitioners  therefore,  confiding  in  the  wisdom  and  piety  of  this 
worshipful  House,  the  guardians  of  their  religious  as  well  as  civil  privileges, 
and  being  deeply  sensible  of  the  inestimable  value  of  the  souls  committed  to 
their  charge,  of  the  infectious  and  pernicious  tendency,  nature,  and  conse- 
quences of  heresy  and  schism,  and  of  the  sacred  and  solemn  obligations  they 
are  under  l  To  be  ready  with  all  faithful  diligence  to  banish  and  drive  aw.ty 
all  erroneous  and  strange  doctrines  contrary  to  God's  word,  and  to  us3 
their  utmost  care  that  the  flock  of  Christ  maybe  fed  with  the  sincere  milk 
of  the  word  only,'  humbly  pray  that  the  good  laws,  formerly  in  that 
case  made  and  provided,  may  be  strictly  put  in  execution ;  particularly 
that  entitled  f  ministers  to  be  inducted.'  And,  as  we  humbly  think  this 
law  still  retains  its  primitive  force  and  vigour,  so  we  pray  that  it  may  on 
this  occasion  effectually  exert  the  same,  to  the  end  that  all  novel  notions 
and  perplexing,  uncertain  doctrines  and  speculations,  which  tend  to  the 
subversion  of  true  religion,  designed  by  its  admirable  Author  to  direct  the 
faith  and  practice  of  reasonable  creatures,  may  be  suitably  checked  and 
discouraged.  And  that  this  Church,  of  which  we  are  members,  arid  which 
our  forefathers  justly  esteemed  a  most  invaluable  blessing,  worthy  by  all 
prudent  and  honourable  means  to  be  defended  and  supported,  being  by  us 
in  the  same  manner  regarded,  may  remain  'the  pillar  and  ground  of 
truth/  and  glory  of  this  Colony,  which  hitherto  hath  been  remarkably 
happy  for  uniformity  of  religion. 

"And  your  petitioners,  as  in  duty  bound,  shall  ever  pray,  &c. 
"  D.  MOSSOM,  PAT.  HENRY, 

"  JOHN  BRUNSKILL,*     JOHN  ROBERTSON, 
ROBERT  BARRETT." 

*  There  were  three  ministers  named  John  Brunskill  at  this  time  in  Virginia,  two 
of  whom  lived  in  Caroline  county,  and  one  in  Fauquier.  The  one  in  Fauquier  was 
an  unworthy  person. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  431 

That  these  memorialists  were  perfectly  sincere  and  conscientious 
in  their  protest,  I  doubt  not ;  nor  have  I  any  reason  to  suspect  the 
respectability  of  their  character.  The  following  statement,  which 
I  take  substantially  from  the  history  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Virginia,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Foote,  will  show  the  grounds  on  which 
the  charges  in  the  foregoing  letter  were  made.  It  must  have  been 
somewhere  about  the  year  1740,  when  the  reports  of  some  great 
awakenings  and  revivals  at  the  North,  and  some  books  differing 
from  those  in  common  use,  found  their  way  first  into  Virginia,  and 
especially  excited  the  minds  of  some  persons  in  Hanover,  Louisa, 
and  other  counties  around.  Finding  nothing  in  the  sermons  of  the 
Episcopal  ministers  corresponding  with  these,  some  of  the  laity 
separated  themselves  from  the  usual  services,  which  by  law  they 
were  bound  to  attend,  and  read  sermons  in  private  houses.  After 
a  time  certain  ministers  came  among  them  from  the  North,  but  who 
were  not  recognised  by  the  Philadelphia  Presbytery.  It  seems 
that  they,  and  some  of  the  laymen  who  set  up  reading-houses,  held 
some  extravagant  doctrines,  probably  Antinomian,  which  made  a 
great  noise.  These,  and  the  irregular  meetings  of  the  itinerant 
preachers,  and  lay  readers  and  exhorters,  came  to  Governor  Gooch's 
ears.  They  were  charged  with  assailing  the  Church  and  its  minis- 
ters, in  private  and  public,  with  the  most  abusive  language,  and  of 
disturbing  the  peace  and  order  of  society.  Governor  Gooch,  who 
had  always  treated  the  Dissenters  with  great  kindness,  and  had,  in 
reply  to  a  letter  from  the  Philadelphia  Synod  a  few  years  before, 
assured  them  that  their  members  and  people  should  be  allowed  the 
free  exercise  of  conscience  in  the  worship  of  God,  if  complying  with 
the  Act  of  Toleration,  became  much  offended,  and,  summoning  a 
general  court,  delivered  a  charge  complaining  of  the  conduct  of 
those  laymen  and  preachers  who,  professing  to  be  Presbyterians,  yet 
utterly  disregarded  the  conditions  of  the  Act  of  Toleration,  and  pro- 
duced mu.ch  discord  in  the  Colony.  This  charge  was  laid  before  the 
Synod  of  Philadelphia  by  a  gentleman  from  Virginia.  The  Synod, 
having  considered  it,  sent  the  following  address  to  the  Governor : — 

"  May  it  please  your  Honour,  the  favourable  acceptance  which  your 
Honour  was  pleased  to  give  our  former  address,  and  the  countenance  and 
protection  which  those  of  our  persuasion  have  met  with  in  Virginia,  fills 
us  with  gratitude,  and  we  beg  leave  on  this  occasion  with  all  sincerity  to 
express  the  same.  It  very  deeply  affects  us  to  find  that  any  who  go  from 
these  parts,  and  perhaps  assume  the  name  of  Presbyterians,  should  be  guilty 
of  such  practices,  such  uncharitable  and  unchristian  expressions,  as  are 
taken  notice  of  in  your  Honour's  charge  to  the  Grand  Jury.  And,  in  the 
mean  time,  it  gives  us  the  greatest  pleasure  that  we  can  assure  your  Honour 


J 

432  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

these  persons  never  belonged  to  our  body,  but  are  missionaries,  sent  out 
by  some,  who,  by  reason  of  their  divisions  and  uncharitable  doctrines  and 
practices,  were,  in  May,  1741,  excluded  from  our  Synod,  upon  which  they 
erected  themselves  into  a  separate  society,  and  have  industriously  sent 
abroad  persons  whom  we  judge  ill  qualified  for  the  character  they  assume, 
to  divide  and  trouble  the  churches.  And,  therefore,  we  humbly  pray, 
that  while  those  who  belong  to  us,  and  produce  proper  testimonials,  behave 
themselves  suitably,  they  may  still  enjoy  the  favour  of  your  Honour's 
countenance  and  protection.  And  praying  for  the  divine  blessing  on  your 
Honour's  person  and  government,  we  beg  leave  to  subscribe  ourselves 
your  Honour's,  &c.  &c. 

"  ROBERT  CATHCART,  Moderator." 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  the  Governor's  reply : — 

"  GENTLEMEN  : — The  address  you  were  pleased  to  send  me,  as  a  grateful 
acknowledgment  for  the  favour  which  teachers  of  your  persuasion  met  with 
in  Virginia,  was  very  acceptable  to  me,  but  altogether  needless  to  a  person 
in  my  station,  because  it  is  what  by  law  they  are  entitled  to." 

The  Synod  soon  after  this,  in  reply  to  a  petition  from  the  people 
in  Hanover,  sent  them,  as  a  temporary  supply,  two  most  venerable 
men,  Messrs.  Tennent  and  Finley,  who  were  kindly  received  by  the 
Governor  and  permitted  to  preach  in  Hanover.  Then  followed  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Blair,  and  soon  after  Mr.  Whitefield,  who,  in  passing 
through  Virginia,  preached  for  them  five  days.  During  the  inter- 
vals of  their  visits,  it  is  said  that  the  Non-conformists  and  itinerant 
preachers  and  lay  readers  were  harassed  by  the  pains  and  penalties 
of  the  law,  by  which  I  presume  is  meant  the  fines  for  not  attending 
the  Established  Church.  The  meetings  for  reading  were,  however, 
kept  up,  although  forbidden.  Those  ministers  and  readers  who 
had  been  summoned  to  Williamsburg  for  violation  of  law,  and  for 
the  use  of  most  abusive  language,  seemed  all  to  have  been  dismissed, 
and  there  was  no  terror  in  the  law  for  any  who  chose  to  worship 
God  in  their  own  way  and  place,  except  a  trivial  fine  for  being 
absent  from  church,  which,  I  will  venture  to  say,  was  seldom  en- 
forced, as  few  could  be  found  who  would  undertake  to  present  them. 
Those  who  are  persecuted  are  very  apt  to  magnify  their  sufferings, 
and  those  who  come  after  them  to  magnify  them  much  more. 

We  now  come  to  the  time  when  the  Rev.  Samuel  Davies,  after- 
ward President  of  Princeton  College,  settled  in  Hanover,  as  the 
regular  pastor  of  the  Presbyterians  there  and  in  some  other  places 
around.  Calling  at  Williamsburg,  and  showing  his  credentials  as 
a  minister  of  that  denomination,  the  Governor  and  Council  licensed 
four  places  at  which  he  was  allowed  to  officiate.  His  zeal  and 
eloquence  soon  attracted  crowds,  and  drew  many  from  the  Episcopal 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  433 

churches.     His  fame  spread  through  the  counties  around,  and  in  a 
short  time  three  other  places  were  licensed,  and  then  three  more 
were  called  for.     Meanwhile,  complaints  were  made  to  the  Governor 
that  he  also  was  nothing  more  than  an  itinerant  proseljter,  as  those 
who  had  gone  before  him,  and  who  had  been  condemned  by  the 
Philadelphia  Synod  itself.     About  this  time  the  letter  from  the 
five  clergymen,  which  goes  before,  was  addressed  to  the  Burgesses. 
The  Governor  was  much  excited,  and,  with  the  Council,  questioned 
whether  it  was  according  to  the  true  intent  of  the  Act  of  Toleration  to 
allow  one  man  to  have  any  number  of  houses  licensed,  in  any  number 
of  counties,  at  which  to  preach  and  draw  away  the  people  from  their 
regular  places  of  worship,  to  which  they  were  attached,  and  which 
they  were  bound  to  attend  by  law.     Mr.  Davies  appeared  before 
them  and  plead  his  own  cause, — no  doubt  with  great  ability.     The 
result,  however,  was  a  refusal  to  license  any  more  without  consul- 
tation with  the  authorities  of  England,  and  Mr.  Davies  was  required 
to  content  himself  with  his  seven  congregations  in  five  or  more 
counties.     The  Governor  himself,  in  his  letter  to  the  Synod  of 
Philadelphia,  had  said,  after  condemning  itinerant  preachers,  who 
disturbed  the  order  and  peace  of  the  community,  "Your  mission- 
aries producing  proper  testimonials,  complying  with  the  laws,  and 
performing  divine  service  in  some  certain  place  appropriated  for 
that  purpose,  without  disturbing  the  quiet  and  unity  of  our  sacred 
and  civil  establishments,  may  be  sure  of  my  protection."     On  such 
terms  Mr.  Davies  was  supposed  to  have  come  to  Yirginia,  and  for 
the  alleged  violation  of  such  was  opposition  made  to  the  licensing 
f  so  many  places  of  service.    We  have  the  whole  subject  discussed 
in  a  kind  of  triangular  correspondence  between  the  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don, Mr.  Davies,  and  the  excellent  Dr.  Doddridge  of  England.    I 
shall  briefly  state  the  main  points  of  these  letters, — enough  to  exhibit 
the  subject  in  its  proper  light.     The  Bishop  of  London  says,  that, 
as  to  any  methods  of  oppression  with  the  Dissenters,  neither  he  nor 
his  Commissaries  have  any  power,  nor  desire  it ;  that  if  any  is  ex- 
erted, the  civil  Government  alone  is  concerned ;  that  if  the  Church 
of  Virginia  is  in  such  a  state  of  corruption  as  the  Church  of  Rome 
was  at  the  Reformation,  then,  without  any  law  authorizing  it,  such 
methods  as  Mr.  Davies  pursues  are  justifiable ;  but,  that  though 
Mr.  Davies  gives  a  much  worse  account  of  the   clergy  than  he 
receives,  yet  he  does  not  justify  himself  on  that  ground ;  that  he 
places  it  on  the  right  given  by  the  Toleration  Act,  in  which  he  (the 
Bishop)  differs  from  him,  thinking  that  it  never  was  designed  to 
give  such  unlimited  license.     The  Bishop  evidently  considers  that 

28 


i 

434  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

Mr.  Davies  had  come  from  a  great  distance  (three  hundred  miles) 
to  disturb  the  minds  of  a  people,  where  he  admits  that  only  a  few 
years  before  there  were  not  more  than  five  or  six  Dissenters.  The 
Bishop  alludes  to  the  opposition  made  at  the  North  to  the  plan  he 
had  submitted  to  Government  of  sending  some  Bishops,  though  only 
to  the  Southern  part  of  the  country,  where  the  Episcopal  Church 
prevailed,  and  asks  what  would  be  thought  if  the  people  of  New 
England  were  not  allowed  to  settle  ministers  for  themselves,  but 
must  send  them  over  for  Orders  to  Geneva.  He  also  alludes  to  the 
fact  of  their  persecuting  and  imprisoning  members  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  for  not  contributing  to  the  support  of  their  preachers.  In 
view  of  all  these  things,  he  asks,  is  it  consistent  to  be  sending  a 
minister  to  Virginia  to  disturb  the  minds  of  a  people  acknowledged 
to  be  Episcopal,  and  to  be  a  true  Church  ?*  Dr.  Doddridge,  in  his 
letter,  differs  from  the  Bishop  as  to  the  construction  to  be  put  on  the 
Act  of  Toleration,  and  shows  clearly  that  the  practice  in  England  is 
altogether  different,  and  in  favour  of  what  Mr.  Davies  pleads  for  ; 
that  it  is  only  required  that  three  men  apply  to  have  a  place  licensed, 
and  that  every  licensed  minister  may  officiate.  He  agrees  with  the 
Bishop,  that  it  is  a  great  hardship  that  the  Episcopalians  of  Ame- 
rica should  be  obliged  to  send  their  candidates  to  England  for  ordi- 
nation, and  says  that  he  has  always  condemned  his  brethren  for 
their  opposition.  As  to  requiring  Episcopalians  in  certain  parts 
of  New  England  to  pay  for  some  other  ministry,  which  may  be  the 
established  one,  he  is  not  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  nature  of 
the  Establishment  to  speak,  but  says  that  he  has  always  maintained 
that,  in  England,  it  was  reasonable  that  Dissenters  should  pay 
something  to  the  Church  which  the  majority  had  established.  Of 
the  Church  of  England  he  speaks  in  kind  terms,  "  as  a  most  re- 
spectable body,  and  heartily  prays  that  it  may  in  every  regard  be 
more  and  more  the  glory  of  the  Reformation."  "As  for  myself," 
he  concludes,  "having  now  lived  for  almost  a  century,  I  consider 
myself  (if  all  my  best  hopes  do  not  deceive  me)  as  quickly  to  join 
that  general  assembly  and  Church  of  the  first-born,  where  our  views 
and  hearts  will  be  forever  one ;  and,  as  that  prospect  approaches,  I 
really  find  every  thing  that  would  feed  the  spirit  of  a  party  daily 
losing  its  influence  on  me.  These  sentiments  I  daily  cultivate  in 


*  Dr.  Doddridge's  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  and  the  memorial  of  the  five 
clergymen,  I  have  in  manuscript,  taken  from  the  archives  of  Lambeth ;  the  others 
may  be  seen  in  Mr.  Foote's  first  volume  of  Sketches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Virginia 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  435 

my  own  heart,  and  in  the  young  people  whom  I  am  endeavouring  to 
form  for  the  service  of  the  sanctuary."  Mr.  Davies's  letter  to  the 
Bishop  of  London  is  like  his  sermons, — very  long  and  very  good. 
He  declares  that,  so  far  from  coming  to  stir  up  the  beginnings  of 
strife  in  Virginia,  the  work  of  separation  had  been  going  on 
among  the  laity  for  at  least  six  years ;  that  a  number  of  congrega- 
tions had  been  actually  organized ;  that  he  was  called  to  supply 
them  ;*  that  he  had  carefully  forborne  to  assail  any  peculiarities 
of  the  Church,  but  contented  himself  with  preaching  the  great  doc- 
trines of  the  Gospel ;  that  in  so  doing  he  had  been  the  honoured 
instrument  of  converting  a  number  of  souls ;  that  it  must,  of  course, 
happen  that  some  of  those  were  brought  up  in  the  Episcopal  Church ; 
that  although  he  esteemed  that  Church  as  sound  and  evangelical 
in  its  doctrines,  and  believed  that  some  of  its  ministers  were  so  also, 
while  others  were  only  learned  and  moral  men,  yet  he  was  obliged 
to  say  that  many  of  them  were  immoral  and  irreligious,  and  that 
the  laity  also  were  in  a  most  deplorable  state  of  ignorance  as  to 
true  religion,  and  many  of  them  of  intemperate  and  vicious  lives. 
He  also,  I  think,  clearly  shows  that  he  had  not  violated  the  law 
as  understood  and  acted  upon  in  England. f  It  certainly  came  to 
be  more  and  more  thus  understood  and  acted  upon  in  Virginia, 
until  the  necessity  for  a  license  was  done  away  by  the  destruction 
of  the  Establishment  and  the  placing  of  all  denominations  upon  an 
equal  footing.  While  we  rejoice  that  such  is  the  case,  we  cannot 
join  with  those  who  condemn,  as  bigoted  and  intolerant,  all  who  at 
different  periods  approved  and  promoted  measures  for  preventing 
the  introduction  of  different  denominations.  A  sincere  love  of  order, 
peace,  and  unity,  may  have  influenced  their  policy  and  conduct. 
Experience  shows  that  they  were  mistaken,  and  that  all  the  inte- 
rests of  Virginia  would  have  been  the  better,  and  the  condition  of 
the  Episcopal  Church  certainly  not  the  worse,  had  a  more  liberal 
course  been  pursued  from  the  first,  and  free  permission  granted  to 
all  denominations  from  the  mother-country  to  settle  here.  But  let 
none  imagine  that  the  desire  to  prevent  inroads  upon  Church  unity 


*  One  of  these  was  called  the  Fork  Church,  and  some  of  his  printed  sermons  are 
dated  there.  It  was  not,  as  some  have  supposed,  that  now  called  the  Fork  Church, 
and  which  was  always  an  Episcopal  Church. 

f  Mr.  Davies  also  unites  with  Dr.  Doddridge  in  approving  the  plan  of  sending 
Bishops  to  Virginia,  and  declares  that  such  was  the  case  with  his  Presbyterian 
brethren  of  the  North.  This,  however,  he  was  obliged  to  retract,  on  discovering 
that  he  was  mistaken.  Their  opposition  was  general  and  violent.  This  cannot  be 
denied.  The  milder  spirit  of  Davies  revolted  at  it. 


OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

was  peculiar  to  the  Episcopalians  of  Virginia.  It  belongs  equally 
to  all  denominations,  and  all  congregations,  with  their  ministers. 
What  Church  previously  established  in  any  land  or  portions  of  a 
land,  what  congregation  being  first  established  in  any  village  or 
neighbourhood,  and  having  filled  up  the  same,  does  not  desire  to 
retain  possession,  and  think  it  hard  that  efforts  should  be  made  to 
divide,  and  sow  discord  and  unhappiness  therein?  We  say  not 
this  to  excuse  our  Church  for  wrong  she  hath  done,  or  to  cast  undue 
blame  on  others.  If  we  know  our  own  heart,  it  is  our  desire  to 
seek  the  truth  and  do  justice  to  all.  When  we  consider  how  much 
and  what  has  been  said,  written,  and  preached  against  the  Episcopal 
Church  for  more  than  a  century, — what  efforts  have  been  made  to 
excite  political  and  religious  prejudices  against  her, — and  more 
especially  what  pains  have  been  taken  to  bias  the  minds  of  the  poor, 
to  warn  them  against  her  assemblies,  even  since  her  ministers  have 
been  acknowledged  to  be  evangelical,  experimental,  and  faithful 
preachers,  and  holy  men  in  their  lives. — we  cannot  but  ask  the  ques- 
tion, Which  of  all  the  Churches  in  Virginia  has,  in  the  sight  of  God, 
been  most  persecuted  during  the  last  hundred  years  ?  We  would 
beseech  our  Christian  brethren,  of  other  denominations  especially, 
to  consider  whether,  when  seeking  to  array  the  rich  and  the  poor, 
the  learned  and  unlearned,  against  each  other,  they  are  not  com- 
mitting a  great  sin  against  society  and  government,  and  against 
that  God  who  has  joined  all  together  in  his  Church,  and  forbids  us 
to  separate  whom  he  hath  united.  While  so  many  have  for  so  long 
a  time  been  exposing  the  faults  of  our  communion,  and  ques- 
tioning whether  there  has  been  or  is  true  piety  in  the  same,  it  may 
be  permitted  to  one  in  these  latter  days,  in  imitation  of  those  of 
other  communions,  to  speak  the  praises  of  some  who  have  been  the 
subjects  of  God's  grace  among  us,  without  denying  the  melancholy 
fact,  that  too  many  have  in  times  past  brought  reproach  upon  our 
Zion  and  its  sanctuary.  He  who  undertakes  the  task  has  not  only 
been  for  a  long  time  going  in  and  out  among  this  people,  becoming 
acquainted  with  several  generations,  but  has  inquired  of  our  fathers 
who  are  no  more,  and  searched  much  in  ancient  and  veritable  docu- 
ments, and  in  his  own  old  age  asks  the  privilege  of  gratifying  his 
own  heart,  and  the  hearts  of  others,  in  bearing  testimony  to  the 
piety  of  a  goodly  number,  as  pure  perhaps  as  is  anywhere  to  be 
found  in  this  evil  world,  and  especially  in  whose  hearts  was  and  is 
to  be  found  a  large  share  of  the  true  spirit,  not  only  of  toleration, 
but  of  Christian  kindness  to  all  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in 
sincerity,  by  whatever  name  they  be  called. 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  437 


ARTICLE  XL. 

Parishes  in  Prince  George,  Martins  Brandon,  and  Bristol 

MARTINS  BRANDON  was  a  very  early  parish  in  Charles  City 
when  that  county  extended  across  the  river.     How  long  before  we 
know  not.     Prince  George  county  was  taken  out  of  Charles  City 
in  1702.     Bristol  parish  was  cut  off  from   Martins  Brandon  in 
1642.     We  have  already  seen  that  the  parish  of  Martins  Brandon 
had  been  enlarged,  in  1720,  by  the  addition  of  those  parts  of 
Westover  and  Weynoake  parishes  which  lay  on  the  south  side  of 
James  River.     "We  have  neither  an  old  vestry-book  nor  register  of 
this  parish,  nor  even  a  report  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  in  1724, 
from  which  to  gather  any  materials  for  a  notice  of  it  in  early 
times.     The  first  minister  of  whom  we  have  any  record  is  the  Rev. 
Alexander  Finnic,  whose  name  is   on  the  list  of  clergy  on  the 
Lambeth  Record,  for  1754,  as  rector  of  Martins  Brandon.     From 
our  worthy  citizen,  the  elder  Mr.  Edmund  Ruffin — who,  from  his 
age  and  extensive  acquaintance  with  many  much  older  than  him- 
self, and  laudable  curiosity  about  former  days  and  men,  is  well 
qualified  to  speak  on  the  subject  of  tradition — I  have  received 
some  interesting  accounts  of  Mr.  Finnic.     Although  perhaps  not 
so  strict  in  some  things  as  becomes  one  in  so  serious  a  profession, 
yet  he  was  a  conscientious   and  upright  man,  doing  and  saying 
whatever  he  considered  his  duty.     Being  also  independent  in  his 
circumstances,  and  somewhat  eccentric  in  character,  he  was  the 
more  fearless  in  preaching  what  he  thought  to  be  his  duty.     This 
eccentricity  and  independence  were  remarkably  displayed  in  one 
department  of  the  pastoral  office, — the  preaching  of  funeral  ser- 
mons.   He  considered  this  to  be  an  occasion  in  which  he  must  make 
full  trial  of  his  ministry,  by  declaring  the  whole  truth  about  the 
deceased  for  the  benefit  of  the  living.     The  old  Roman  maxim, 
"De  mortuis  nil  nisi  bonum"  he  eschewed  in  theory  and  practice. 
Whether  they  were  rich  or   poor,  high  or  low,  he  recommended 
their  good  qualities  and  warned  his  hearers  against  their  evil  ones. 
Some  memorable  instances  are  handed  down.     One  wealthy  lady 
left  in  her  will  a  positive  prohibition  of  a  funeral  sermon ;   but 
without  avail,  for  he  never  departed  from  this  practice.     He  re- 


438  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

garded  it  as  his  great  instrument  for  doing  good.  Even  this  cus- 
tom, which  we  do  not  mean  to  defend,  is  better  than  those  unfaith- 
ful, flattering,  and  fulsome  eulogies  which  are  so  often  uttered  on 
such  occasions.  Better  far  have  none  at  all,  in  most  cases,  and 
let  "  expressive  silence"  speak  both  the  praises  and  censures  of 
the  dead.  How  long  Mr.  Finnie  had  been  in  the  parish  before 
1754,  and  continued  afterward,  is  not  known.  He  was  in  other 
parishes  besides  this,  and  has  left  a  respectable  posterity  in  Vir- 
ginia. In  the  years  1773, 1774,  and  1776, 1  find  the  Rev.  William 
Coutts  on  the  list  as  minister  of  Martins  Brandon.  In  the  years 
1785  and  1786,  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Blagrove.  In  the  years  1790 
and  1794,  the  Rev.  John  Spooner.  After  this,  the  parish  seems  to 
have  been  deserted,  as  no  delegation — either  clerical  or  lay — ap- 
pears on  the  journal  until  the  year  1829,  when  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cole 
is  a  delegate  from  Surrey  and  Prince  George.*  Since  that  time, 
the  parish  has  enjoyed  the  services  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Denison,  Mr. 
Minnegerode,  Mr.  Murdaugh,  and,  being  recently  divided,  has  the 
benefit  of  the  labours  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Johnson  in  the  upper  parish, 
in  addition  to  those  of  Mr.  Murdaugh  in  the  lower. 

I  have  no  means  of  ascertaining  what — if  any — were  the 
churches  in  Martins  Brandon  besides  the  Old  Brandon  Church, 
near  the  estates  of  the  Harrisons  at  the  two  Brandons,  and  Old 
Merchant's  Hope.  A  new  church  has  recently  been  erected  in 
place  of  the  Old  Brandon  Church,  and  very  near  to  it.  At  City 
Point  also,  some  years  since,  the  Rev.  Malcolm  McFarland,  now 
of  Baltimore,  in  some  measure  at  his  own  expense,  erected  a  neat 
brick  church,  and,  for  some  years,  served  the  people  of  that  place 
and  vicinity  gratuitously.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Okeson.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Murray  now  occupies  it.  A  parish  by 
the  name  of  St.  John's  has  been  organized  at  City  Point. 


BRISTOL   PARISH. 


I  am  now  brought,  in  the  order  of  time  and  geography,  to 
Bristol  parish.  This  parish  was  formed  in  1662,  on  either  side 
of  the  Appomattox  River,  beginning  at  its  junction  with  James 
River,  at  City  Point,  and  extending  to  the  Falls.  By  the  Falls 


*  I  find  that  I  was  under  a  mistake  in  saying  that,  during  this  period,  no  efforts 
had  been  made  in  this  parish  and  no  minister  employed.  A  very  worthy  young 
man  from  Khode  Island,  whose  name  I  am  unable  to  recall,  spent  some  time  in 
most  acceptable  services  here ;  but  failing  health  put  an  end  to  them.  ColoneJ 
Peterson,  and  other  laymen,  co-operated  zealously  with  him. 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  439 

we  presume  must  be  meant  those  at  or  a  little  above  Petersburg, 
though,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  the  vestry,  in  the  course  of  time, 
seem  to  have  acted  for  a  much  larger  territory. 

It  was  called  Bristol  parish,  because  the  river  was  then  called 
Bristol  as  well  as  Appomattox.  Within  the  bounds  of  this  parish 
was  the  old  settlement  of  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  in  1611,  called  Ber- 
muda Hundred,  at  the  junction  of  James  River  and  Appomattox. 
Settlements  were,  from  time  to  time,  formed  along  the  river  up  to 
the  Falls,  where  is  now  the  town  of  Petersburg.  The  mother  or 
parish  church  was  at  Bermuda  Hundred,  opposite  to  City  Point, 
and  it  was  desirable  to  organize  a  parish  and  provide  for  those  who 
were  settling  higher  up  the  Appomattox  or  Bristol  River.  That 
the  mother-church  was  at  this  place  is  evident  from  an  early  entry 
in  the  vestry-book,  where,  for  the  first  and  only  time,  the  mother- 
church  is  mentioned, — and  then  in  connection  with  the  ferry  at  the 
Point,  (City  Point,)  which  is  directed  to  be  kept  in  good  order  for 
persons,  on  Sunday,  going  over  to  the  "  mother-church,"  called, 
in  the  Act  of  Assembly,  the  "  Parish  Church."  The  next  place 
of  worship  in  the  parish  was  probably  the  "  Ferry  Chapel,"  near 
the  Falls,  and  not  far  from  the  Old  Blandford  Church,  which  took 
its  place  in  the  year  1737  or  1738.  From  the  year  1720,  when 
the  vestry-book  begins,  to  the  year  1737,  the  vestry-meetings  are 
invariably  held  at  the  Ferry  Chapel,  and  afterward  at  the  Brick 
Church,  on  Wills's  Hill,  or  Blandford  Church.  There  was  a  church 
built,  it  is  believed,  in  1707,  according  to  some  marks  on  it,  and 
called  Wood's  Church,  about  five  miles  from  Petersburg,  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Appomattox.  Of  this  we  shall  speak  when 
treating  of  Dale  parish,  in  Chesterfield,  in  which  it  now  stands. 
The  first  and  most  accurate  account  we  have  of  Bristol  parish  is 
from  a  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  by  its  incumbent,  the  Rev. 
George  Robertson,  in  the  year  1724.  He  had  been,  at  that  time, 
its  minister  for  nearly  thirty-one  years,  and  so  continued  for  six- 
teen more,  making  in  all  forty-six  years.  The  extent  of  the  parish 
was  twenty-five  miles  wide  and  forty  miles  long.  It,  of  course, 
must  then  have  extended,  up  the  Appomattox  into  Brunswick  and 
Amelia.  He  complains  that  but  a  few  of  the  masters  send  their 
servants  to  be  catechized,  as  he  exhorts  them  to  do,  though  some 
do  it  at  home  and  then  bring  them  to  baptism.  He  had  one  church 
and  one  chapel,  at  which  he  alternately  preached,  and  had  full 
congregations  in  good  weather, — sometimes  more  than  the  pews 
would  hold.  His  tobacco  being  of  inferior  quality,  his  salary  was 
not  more  than  forty-five  or  forty-six  pounds  sterling.  His  glebe 


,  *  ^ 

440  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

had  forty  acres  of  barren  land,  with  no  house  on  it,  and  not  culti- 
vated.* No  public  school  nor  library.  His  services  were  confined 
to  the  Ferry  Chapel,  at  Petersburg,  and  to  the  mother-church,  at 
Bermuda  Hundred.  Although  Mr.  Robertson  had  only  these  two 
places  at  which  he  officiated  in  1724,  we  find  the  vestry  determined 
to  build  chapels  in  the  year  1721,  three  years  before,  at  Saponey 
Creek  and  Nansemond  Creek,  a  considerable  distance  up  the  river. 
These,  however,  were  not  built  until  the  year  1727.  Meanwhile,  a 
chapel  was  built  elsewhere — and,  as  we  believe,  lower  down  the 
parish — in  the  year  1723.  The  person  contracting  for  it  was  a 
Mr.  Thomas  Jefferson ;  and  we  suppose  it  to  be  the  same  building 
spoken  of  by  Mr.  Stith,  in  his  "  History  of  Virginia,"  in  1740,  as 
being  in  Chesterfield,  and  which  was  so  near  to  James  River  that  a 
minister  of  Henrico  parish  connected  it  at  a  later  period  with  his. 
It  was  called  Jefferson's  Church, — probably  after  the  builder :  I 
am  not  sure  but  that  there  are  remains  of  it  to  this  day. 

In  the  year  1727,  it  appears  that  four  surplices  were  ordered, 
which  shows  that  there  must  have  been  at  least  four  churches  then 
in  the  parish.  In  the  year  1729,  additions  are  made  to  each  of  the 
churches  recently  built  at  Saponey  and  Namoisen  Creeks.  In  the 
year  1730,  another  church — between  Smacks  and  Krebbs — is  de- 
termined upon,  for  "  the  remote  inhabitants"  of  the  parish,  on  Flat 
Creek,  near  Samuel  Cobb's,  to  be  built  by  Richard  Booker,  with 
the  privilege  of  putting  up  a  pew  for  his  family  by  the  side  of  the 
communion-table.  In  1733,  a  committee  is  appointed  to  examine 
the  Ferry  Chapel  and  see  whether  it  is  worthy  of  being  repaired. 
The  report  being  unfavourable,  in  1734  it  was  determined  to  build 
a  new  one,  on  Will's  Hill,  of  the  best  materials  and  workmanship, 
— sixty  feet  by  twenty-five, — the  aisle  to  be  laid  of  white  Bristol 
stone.  Thomas  Ravenscroft  contracted  to  build  it  for  four  hun- 
dred and  eighty-five  pounds  sterling.  The  building  of  this  church 
involved  the  vestry  in  great  pecuniary  difficulty,  so  that  the  minis- 
ter, Mr.  George  Robertson,  agreed  to  serve  them  gratuitously  until 
they  were  relieved.  The  vestry  seems  also  to  have  been  tempted 
to  resort  to  very  doubtful  means  of  discharging  their  engagements. 
The  Assembly  had  established  two  new  parishes  in  the  year  1735, 
—viz. :  Dale  parish,  in  Chesterfield,  taking  in  that  part  of  Bristol 
parish  lying  north  of  the  Appomattox,  and  Raleigh  parish,  now  in 
Amelia,  but  then  parts  of  Bristol  and  St.  Andrew's  parishes.  After 

*  In  reply  to  the  question,  Is  your  glebe-house  kept  in  good  repair  ?  he  says, 
"jNbnentibua  nulla  sunt  accidentia;"   (To  nonentities  no  accidents  happen.) 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  441 

the  passage,  but  before  the  execution,  of  the  law,  a  levy  was  made 
on  these  new  parishes  for  the  means  of  paying  for  Blandford  Church. 
Complaint  being  made,  the  next  Assembly  declared  the  levy  im- 
proper, and  ordered  it  to  be  refunded. 

In  proof  of  an  increasing  population  and  desire  for  places  of 
worship,  we  state  that  petitions  for  two  new  chapels  were  addressed 
to  the  vestry  in  the  year  1737.  In  the  year  1738  one  was  ordered 
to  be  built  on  the  north  side  of  Hatcher's  Run,  which  was  undertaken 
by  Isham  Eppes  for  one  hundred  and  nineteen  pounds  and  fifteen 
shillings ;  and  in  the  year  1739  one  was  ordered  to  be  built  for  the 
convenience  of  the  lower  parts  of  the  parish,  and  Mr.  John  Ravens- 
croft  undertook  to  build  it  for  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  pounds 
and  ten  shillings,  on  Titmassie's  land.  That  on  Hatcher's  Run 
being  burned  down,  another  is  ordered  in  1740.  Another  at  Jones's 
Hole  was  also  completed  that  year.  An  addition  being  found  neces- 
sary to  Blandford  Church,  in  the  year  1752  it  was  ordered  that  one, 
thirty  by  twenty-five  feet,  be  put  to  it,  and  that  a  brick  wall  be 
placed  around  it.  Since  the  completion  of  Blandford  Church  in 
1738,  the  vestry  appears  to  have  been  duly  attentive  to  the  wants 
of  the  minister  as  to  a  glebe  and  glebe-houses.  In  the  year  1761 
we  find  another  entry  of  an  order  for  building  a  small  church  in 
the  outward  part  of  the  parish.  Again,  in  1769,  we  find  an  order 
for  one  sixty  feet  by  twenty-eight,  in  the  upper  part  of  the  parish 
that  lies  in  Dinwiddie  county.  On  the  approach  of  the  war  the 
vestry  resolved  to  pay  a  salary  of  one  hundred  .and  forty-four 
pounds,  instead  of  tobacco,  and  Mr.  Harrison,  their  minister,  agrees 
to  wait  three  years  for  a  balance  due  him,  on  account  of  the  dis- 
tress of  the  country. 

In  the  year  1789  we  find  Jones's  Hole  Church  forcibly  entered, 
through  the  windows  and  doors,  for  the  purpose  of  worship, — the 
vestry  giving  notice  that  if  this  be  again  done,  or  the  church  en- 
tered without  leave,  the  offending  persons  shall  be  dealt  with  accord- 
ing to  law,  which  proves  that  the  Episcopalians  were  the  subjects 
of  some  persecution  at  that  time.  This  forcible  entry  of  some  of 
our  churches  has  continued  ever  since.  Surely,  in  view  of  such 
forcible  entries,  when  the  Legislature  confiscated  the  glebes,  it 
would  have  declared  the  churches  common,  in  the  plainest  manner, 
had  such  been  the  design  of  the  law.  Mr.  Chapman  Johnson  once 
told  me  that,  after  the  fullest  investigation  of  the  subject,  he  was 
well  convinced  that  the  law  never  contemplated  any  interference 
with  the  entire  right  of  Episcopalians  with  the  Church  buildings. 
Nevertheless,  we  have  not,  like  the  dog  in  the  manger,  refused  to 


I 

442  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

use  them  ourselves  or  let  others  do  it,  but  when  reduced  in  num- 
bers so  as  to  have  only  irregular  or  infrequent  services,  or  having 
utterly  failed  in  the  neighbourhood  of  many  of  the  old  churches, 
have  either  allowed  the  partial  use  of  them,  or  quietly  surrendered 
them  to  others.  With  the  above  act  in  1789  the  records  of  the 
old  vestry-book  of  Bristol  parish  terminate.  To  other  sources  we 
must  be  indebted  for  any  information  touching  the  churches  in  this 
parish  after  this.  As  to  the  numbers  which,  as  we  have  stated, 
were  built  in  different  parts  of  the  parish,  without  the  towns  of 
Petersburg  and  Blandford,  we  are  unable  to  give  any  account  of 
them,  save  that,  with  the  exception  of  Old  Saponey  Church, — Mr. 
Jarratt's  Church,  as  it  has  been  often  called, — they  are  gone,  and 
the  places  thereof  know  them  no  more.  Being  of  framework,  they 
were  not  destined  to  much  duration,  and,  being  occupied  and  abused 
by  all,  soon  came  to  desolation.  Old  Blandford  Church  also  began 
to  experience  the  effects  of  age,  and  the  increasing  prosperity  and 
numbers  of  Petersburg,  standing  on  the  adjoining  hill,  made  it  ex- 
pedient to  begin  to  think  of  deserting  her,  and  preparing  a  place 
of  worship  more  convenient  to  the  majority  of  the  worshippers. 
Accordingly,  in  the  year  1802,  measures  were  taken  for  building  a 
church  in  Petersburg  near  the  court-house.  This  answered  the 
purposes  of  the  congregation  until  the  year  1839,  when  another 
and  larger  one  was  built  in  a  more  convenient  place.  That  having 
been  consumed  by  fire  a  few  years  since,  another  larger  and  more 
expensive  one  has  recently  been  erected.  Two  other  churches  have 
also  been  built  in  Petersburg  under  the  auspices  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Gibson  within  a  few  years  past,  the  first  of  them  being  disposed  of 
when  the  second  was  erected.  A  small  missionary  chapel  was  also 
erected  in  another  part  of  the  town,  but  has  failed  of  its  object. 

We  have  thus,  contrary  to  our  usual  order,  given  in  the  first 
place  an  account  of  the  churches  of  Bristol  parish,  and  now  pro- 
ceed to  state  what  we  have  been  able  to  collect  of  the  history  of 
its  ministers.  After  the  early  mention  of  Alexander  Whittaker, 
Mr.  Wickham,  and  Stockam,  who,  from  the  year  1611  and  onward, 
officiated  at  Bermuda  Hundred,  in  connection  with  the  church  at 
Henrico  City,  about  five  or  six  miles  off,  on  the  north  side  of  James 
River,  we  have  no  record  of  even  the  name  of  a  minister  until  the 
year  1693,  when  Mr.  Robertson  came  to  it,  and  continued  to  be  the 
minister  till  1740. 

At  the  death  of  Mr.  Ro'bertson  in  1740,  an  agreement  was  made 
with  a  Rev.  Mr.  Hartwell  to  become  the  minister ;  but,  misunder- 
standings taking  place  as  to  the  terms,  it  was  never  carried 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  44S 

into  execution.  Mr.  Robert  Ferguson  was  then  chosen,  and  con- 
tinued to  be  the  minister  for  ten  years, — until  1750.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  the  Rev.  Eleazer  Robertson,  who  continued  two  years, 
and  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Wilkinson,  who  resigned 
in  1762,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  William  Harrison,  who 
resigned  in  1780,  though  continuing  to  reside  in  Petersburg  until 
his  death  in  1814,  being  eighty-four  years  of  age.  The  parish 
being  advertised  as  vacant,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kennedy  and  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Cameron  were  candidates  in  1784.  The  latter  was  chosen,  and 
ministered  in  the  parish  until  1793,  when  he  resigned.  Of  him  I 
shall  speak  in  another  place.  In  the  following  year  the  Rev.  An- 
drew Syme  was  elected,  and  continued  until  his  resignation  in  1839, 
— a  period  of  forty-five  years.  He  continued  to  reside  in  Petersburg 
until  his  death,  esteemed  and  beloved,  by  all  who  knew  him,  as  "  an 
Israelite  in  whom  there  was  no  guile."  For  further  particulars  of 
him  the  reader  is  referred  to  my  article  on  South  Farnham  parish, 
Essex  county,  from  which  he  removed  to  Bristol  parish,  and  to  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Slaughter's  full  and  very  interesting  pamphlet  on  Bristol 
parish.  For  some  years  previous  to  his  resignation  of  the  parish, 
Mr.  Syme,  on  account  of  increasing  infirmities,  had  called  for  an 
assistant,  and  obtained  the  services  of  the  Rev.  Hobart  Bartlett, 
from  New  York,  whose  fine  talents,  popular  preaching,  and  agree- 
able manners  contributed  much  to  the  increase  of  the  congregation. 
In  the  year  1839  I  was  induced,  under  peculiar  circumstances,  to 
take  the  temporary  charge  of  the  congregation,  but  soon  accom- 
plished the  object  had  in  view,  and  procured  for  the  congregation 
the  services  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cobbs,  now  Bishop  of  Alabama.  His 
ministry,  during  the  few  years  of  its  continuance,  was  very  pros- 
perous in  all  respects.  During  that  period  a  general  awakening  of 
the  souls  of  the  people  of  Petersburg  took  place,  and  the  ministers 
of  all  denominations  laboured  faithfully  in  prayer,  and  sermons, 
and  exhortations,  private  and  public.  Instead  of  discouraging  such 
extraordinary  efforts  for  so  extraordinary  an  outpouring  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  as  was  granted,  Mr.  Cobbs  came  behind  none,  and 
went  beyond  some,  in  the  frequency  and  continuance  of  his  religious 
exercises.  The  result  was,  that  no  congregation  was  more  highly 
blest  in  the  results  thereof.  I  laid  my  hands  on  the  heads  of  ninety- 
three  at  that  time,  who,  for  the  last  three  months,  had  been  receiv- 
ing the  daily  instructions  of  their  minister,  either  public  or  private, 
and  of  such  other  ministers  as  he  was  able  to  bring  to  his  help. 
During  Mr.  Cobbs's  ministry  the  ladies  of  the  Wilmer  Association — 
who  had  for  so  many  years  been  the  most  active  of  all  in  support- 


444  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

ing  beneficiaries  at  our  Seminary,  sending  at  times  to  the  amount 
of  five  and  six  hundred  dollars  to  the  treasury — began  to  divert  their 
funds  from  this  to  the  promotion  of  missionary  labours  in  the  town 
of  Petersburg.  The  result  has  been  the  establishment  of  the  pros- 
perous church  under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gibson.  In  the  year 
1843  the  Rev.  Mr.  Slaughter  accepted  a  call  to  this  parish,  after 
the  resignation  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cobbs.  His  services  were  so  ac- 
ceptable to  the  people,  that  at  the  end  of  the  six  months  which  he 
had  proposed  to  himself  as  a  trial,  he  agreed  to  continue,  nor  did 
he  cease  to  labour  there  until  his  health  so  failed  as  to  make  it 
improper  to  add  further  efforts.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev. 
Horace  Stringfellow,  who  continued  until  the  year  1854.  His  place 
has  been  supplied  during  the  present  year  (1856)  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Platt,  from  Alabama. 

A  few  words  concerning  Petersburg  and  Blandford  will  close  my 
remarks.  We  naturally  like  to  know  the  origin  of  the  names  of 
places  in  which  we  take  interest.  In  looking  over  documents  which 
have  been  furnished  me,  I  find  the  name  of  Petersburg  ascribed  to 
the  fact  that  a  great  number  of  persons  by  the  name  of  Peter, 
especially  of  the  family  of  Jones,  were  among  the  first  settlers.* 
As  to  Blandford,  which  was,  as  to  the  time  of  its  settlement,  con- 
siderably in  the  advance  of  Petersburg,  the  name  is  supposed  to 
have  been  given  it  because  so  much  of  the  property  around  was 
once  in  the  possession  of  the  family  of  Elands.  Concerning  the 
venerable  old  church  at  Blandford,  now  and  for  a  long  time  past 
only  used  for  funeral  services  of  those  who  are  buried  around  it, 
and  which  reminds  the  traveller  of  the  "moss-grown  battlements 
and  ivy-mantled  towers"  of  our  fatherland,  I  need  only  present 
to  the  reader  the  following  lines  of  some  unknown  one,  which  are 


*  Colonel  Byrd,  in  Ms  visit  to  Eden  (as  he  calls  his  land  on  the  Roanoke)  in  the 
year  1733,  took  with  him  a  Mr.  Peter  Jones.  In  his  journal  he  says,  "When  we 
got  home,  we  laid  the  foundation  of  two  cities, — one  at  Shocco's,  to  be  called  Rich- 
mond, and  the  other  at  the  point  of  Appomattox  River,  to  be  called  Petersburg. 
Thus  we  did  not  only  build  castles  in  the  air,  but  cities  also."  We  learn  that  the 
locality  was  first  called  Peter's  Point,  subsequently  changed  to  Petersburg. 

In  the  year  1762  the  town  of  Petersburg  was  enlarged  by  taking  in  twenty-eight 
acres  of  land  belonging  to  one  Peter  Jones,  and  the  following  gentlemen,  with  very 
large  powers,  made  trustees  of  the  town, — viz. :  Robert  Boiling,  Roger  Atkinson, 
William  Eaton,  John  Bannister,  Robert  Ruffin,  Thomas  Jones,  Henry  Walker,  George 
Turnbull,  and  James  Field.  It  appears  that  until  the  year  1784  there  were  four 
towns  clustered  together  in  that  place, — viz. :  Blandford,  Petersburg,  Pocahontas, 
and  Ravenscroft,  all  of  which,  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  that  year,  were 
united  under  the  one  name  of  Petersburg. 


OLD      BLANDFORD      CHURCH,     PETERSB'J 


1  Lono  relit;  of  the  pnst !  old  mouldering  pile 
Wiicre  twines  the  ivy  round  ite  ru;n<.  gray 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  445 

engraven  on  its  walls,  and  refer  them  to  the  not  less  exquisite  ones 
to  be  found  in  Mr.  Slaughter's  pamphlet, 


"  Thou  art  crumbling  to  the  dust,  old  pile, 

Thou  art  hastening  to  thy  fall, 
And  around  thee  in  thy  loneliness 

Clings  the  ivy  to  thy  -wall. 
The  worshippers  are  scatter'd  now 

Who  met  before  thy  shrine, 
And  silence  reigns  where  anthems  rose 

In  days  of  old  lang  syne. 

"  And  rudely  sighs  the  wandering  wind, 

Where  oft,  in  years  gone  by, 
Prayer  rose  from  many  hearts  to  Him, 

The  highest  of  the  high. 
The  tramp  of  many  a  busy  foot 

Which  sought  thy  aisles  is  o'er, 
And  many  a  weary  heart  around 

Is  still* d  for  evermore. 

"  How  oft  ambition's  hope  takes  wing ! 

How  droop  the  spirits  now! 
We  hear  the  distant  city's  din : 

The  dead  are  mute  below. 
The  sun  which  shone  upon  their  paths 

Now  gilds  their  lonely  graves ; 
The  zephyrs  which  once  fann'd  their  brows 

The  grass  above  them  waves. 

"  Oh,  could  we  call  the  many  back 

Who've  gather'd  here  in  vain, 
Who  careless  roved  where  we  do  now, 

Who'll  never  meet  again, — 
How  would  our  souls  be  stirr'd 

To  meet  the  earnest  gaze 
Of  the  lovely  and  the  beautiful, 

The  light  of  other  days !" 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  vestrymen  whose  names  are  in  the 
record  from  the  year  1720  to  1788.  For  the  continuation  of  the 
list,  reference  is  made  to  the  fuller  sketch  of  this  parish  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Slaughter: — Robert  Boiling,  Robert  Munford,  A.  Hall,  L. 
Green,  Henry  Randolph,  Thomas  Bott,  William  Kennon,  G.  Wilson, 
Peter  Jones,  George  Archer,  Robert  Kennon,  I.  Herbert,  Drury 
Boiling,  William  Poythress,  Theophilus  Field,  A.  Bevell,  Charles 
Fisher,  William  Starke,  D.  Walker,  F.  Poythress,  J.  Bannister, 
William  Hamlin,  Theodoric  Bland,  T.  Short,  W.  Eppes,  G.  Smith, 
L.  Dewey,  J.  Gordon,  J.  Boisseau,  J.  Murray,  A.  Walker,  T.  Wil- 


I 
446  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

liams,  Alexander  Boiling,  William  Eaton,  Roger  Atkinson,  G. 
Nicholas,  Sir  William  Skipwith,  N.  Raines,  John  Ruffin,  R.  Boiling, 
William  Kail,  Dr.  Theodoric  Bland,  (afterward  Colonel  Bland  of 
the  Revolution,)  Richard  Taylor,  Thomas  Jones,  Peter  Jones,  J.  P. 
Wheat,  Robert  Skipwith,  W.  Brown,  William  Robertson,  John 
Kirby,  R.  Boiling.  James  Field,  William  Diggs,  B.  Kirby,  R.  Turn- 
bull,  John  Shore,  T.  G.  Peachy,  A.  G.  Strachan,  J.  Hull,  J.  Geddy, 
R.  Gregory,  J.  Bonner,  E.  Harrison,  A.  Gracie,  T.  Boiling,  J. 
Campbell,  R.  Williams,  D.  Hardaway,  John  Grammar,  Sr.,  George 
Keith  Taylor,  Thomas  Withers,  A.  Macrae,  W.  Prentiss,  E.  Stott, 
J.  Osburne,  R.  Moore,  D.  Maitland. 

To  this  we  add,  that,  on  examining  the  list  of  baptisms  from  1720 
and  onward,  we  find  the  following  names,  among  many  others : — 
Birchett.  Boiling,  Hardaway,  Jones,  Poythress,  Buchan,  Peebles, 
Hinton,  Yaughan,  Pegram,  Peterson,  Walthall,  Sturdivant,  Stith, 
Rowlett,  Bragg,  Batte,  Bannister,  Guilliam,  Hammond,  Bland, 
Chambliss,  &c. 

THE  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  ELANDS. 

From  the  genealogy  of  the  Blands  preserved  at  Jordans,  we  take 
a  few  extracts,  sufficient  to  comply  with  the  character  of  these 
sketches, — their  religious  character.  It  is  an  old  and  highly-respect- 
able English  family.  I  leave  it  to  others  to  speak  of  the  gallant 
conduct  and  fatal  end  of  Giles  Bland  in  Bacon's  Rebellion,  and  be- 
gin with  Theodoric  Bland,  who  settled  at  Westover,  in  Charles  City, 
in  1654,  and  died  in  1671.  He  was  buried  in  the  chancel  of  the 
church,  which  church  he  built  and  gave  it,  with  ten  acres  of  land,  a 
court-house  and  prison,  for  the  county  and  parish.  His  tomb  is 
now  to  be  seen  in  old  Westover  graveyard,  lying  between  those  of 
two  of  his  friends,  William  Perry  and  Walter  Aston.  The  church  is 
fallen  down.  He  was  one  of  the  King's  Council  for  Virginia,  and 
was  both  in  fortune  and  understanding  inferior  to  none  in  the  Colony. 
He  left  three  sons, — Theodoric,  Richard,  and  John.  We  confine 
ourselves  to  his  son  Richard  and  his  posterity.  He  was  born  at 
Berkeley,  the  neighbouring  estate,  in  1665,  and  married  first  a  Miss 
Swan,  and  secondly  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  William  Randolph,  of 
Turkey  Island.  His  daughters,  three  in  number,  married  Henry 
Lee,  William  Beverley,  and  Robert  Monford.  His  sons  were  Richard 
and  Theodoric,  who  moved  to  Prince  George  and  lived  at  Jordans 
and  Causons,  near  City  Point.  Richard  was  the  one  who  took  so 
active  a  part  in  the  affairs  of  both  Church  and  State  before  and 
during  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  He  wrote  a  treatise  on  Baptism 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  447 

against  the  Quakers,  of  which  sect  some  of  his  ancestors  or  relatives 
in  England  had  been.  He  died  in  1776,  and  was  buried  at  Jordans. 
He  married  a  Miss  Poythress  and  had  twelve  children.  The  other 
son  of  Richard  Bland,  Sr.,  was  Theodoric,  who  lived  at  Causons. 
He  married  a  Miss  Boiling,  descendant  of  Pocahontas,  and  had 
one  son  Theodoric,  and  five  daughters,  who  married  Messrs.  Ban- 
nister, Ruffin,  Eaton,  Haynes,  and  Randolph  of  Roanoke,  father 
of  John  Randolph,  member  of  Congress.  At  Mr.  Randolph's  death 
she  married  St.  George  Tucker,  who  was  afterward  Judge  of  the 
Court  of  Appeals.  His  son  Theodoric  was  Lieutenant  of  the  county, 
Clerk,  Burgess,  and  vestryman.  He  was  active  to  the  close  of  the 
war,  as  his  letter  to  Colonel  Theodoric  Bland,  his  son,  shows.  His 
son  received  a  complete  English  education,  being  in  England  eleven 
years,  and  returning  a  thorough-bred  physician.  But,  not  liking 
that  profession,  and  engaging  warmly  in  the  dispute  with  England, 
he  entered  the  army  and  signalized  himself.  He  attained  to  the 
rank  of  colonel,  and  stood  high  in  the  esteem  of  "Washington.  His 
letters  to  Lord  Dunmore,  at  the  opening  of  the  war,  have  not  a 
little  of  the  spirit  and  genius  of  Junius  in  them.  In  the  year 
1769,  while  living  at  Blandford,  or  Petersburg,  and  practicing  me- 
dicine, we  find  his  name  on  the  list  of  vestrymen,  thus  following  his 
father's  footsteps. 

Of  old  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Grammar,  on  whom  for  a  considerable  time, 
by  general  consent,  the  very  existence  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in 
Petersburg  seemed  to  hang,  I  need  not  speak,  or  seek  for  any 
epitaph.  They  live  in  the  hearts  of  children  and  children's  chil- 
dren yet  alive,  and  in  the  memories  of  many  others  who  revere 
their  characters  and  endeavour  to  follow  their  example.  The  social 
prayer-meetings  held  at  their  house,  when  the  old  lady  was  unable 
any  longer  to  go  to  the  house  of  God,  were  refreshing  seasons  to 
ministers  and  people. 


448  OLD   CHUKCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 


ARTICLE  XLI. 

Parishes  in  Chesterfield,  Dale,  and  Manchester. 

CHESTERFIELD  was  originally  part  of  Henrico  shire  and  parish, 

as  established  in  1632.  In ,  that  part  of  the  parish  lying 

some  miles  north  of  the  Appomattox  was  taken  into  Bristol  parish, 
but  at  the  establishment  of  Dale  parish  was  incorporated  into  it. 
Dale  parish,  therefore,  included  the  whole  of  Chesterfield  until 
Manchester  parish  was  separated  from  it.  In  this  region  we're 
some  of  the  earliest  settlements.  Bermuda  Hundred  was  esta- 
blished in  1611,  by  Sir  Thomas  Dale.  A  large  portion  of  the 
College  Lands  were  laid  along  James  River,  on  its  northern  bank, 
toward  Manchester.  Here  the  Indian  massacre  in  1622  was  great. 
On  Colonel  Berkeley's  plantation  alone — at  Falling  Creek — him- 
self and  twenty  others  were  destroyed.  At  an  early  period  settle- 
ments were  made  on  James  River  and  the  Appomattox,  from  City 
Point  to  what  are  now  Manchester  and  Petersburg. 

The  first  ministers  were  in  one  corner  of  the  county,  at  Bermuda 
Hundred,  Whittaker,  Wickham,  and  Stockham,  of  whom  we  have 
already  spoken.  In  the  sketch  of  Bristol  parish  we  have  given 
the  names  of  those  who  have  ministered  in  this  part  of  the  State 
from  1693  to  the  time  of  the  establishment  of  Dale  parish. 

The  first  of  whom  we  read  after  this  is  the  Rev.  George  Frazer, 
in  1754,  who  was  also  minister  in  1758.  How  long  he  continued 
afterward  cannot  be  ascertained.  In  the  years  1773-74-76,  the 
Rev.  Archibald  McRoberts  is  on  the  list  of  clergy  as  minister  of 
this  parish.  Having  been  ordained  in  1763,  he  may  have  been 
there  some  years  before.  He  was  the  bosom-friend  of  Mr.  Jarratt 
for  a  number  of  years,  but  left  the  Church  about  the  year  1779, 
during  the  war,  and  after  the  Church  had  become  very  unpopular. 
His  defence  of  this  act  will,  I  think,  be  considered  by  nearly  all  as 
a  very  weak  one.  He  was  not  the  minister  of  Dale  parish  at  the 
time,  but  of  one  in  Prince  Edward.  His  letter  in  reply  to  two 
written  to  him  by  Mr.  Jarratt,  inquiring  into  the  truth  of  his  re- 
ported change,  and  as  to  his  reasons  for  it,  is  dated  Providence, 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  449 

July  13,  1780.     This  was   the  name  of  the  glebe  near  Prince 
Edward  Court-house.     In  it  he  says, — 

"  Upon  the  strictest  inquiry  it  appears  to  me  that  the  Church  of  Christ 
is  truly  and  properly  independent;  and  I  am  a  Dissenter  under  that  de- 
nomination. Ecclesiastical  matters  among  the  Presbyterians  I  find  every 
day  verging  toward  my  sentiments,  and  will,  I  believe,  terminate  there. 
There  is  very  little  that  divides  us  even  now.  They  constantly  attend  my 
poor  ministry.  Several  of  Mr.  Sanky's  people  have  joined  my  congrega- 
tion, and  I  have  lately  had  a  most  delightful  communion-season  at  Cum- 
berland, where  I  assisted  Mr.  Smith,  at  the  urgent  request  of  himself  and 
the  elders.  Soon  after  my  dissent,  as  my  concern  for  the  people  had  suf- 
fered no  change,  I  drew  up  a  set  of  articles  including  the  essential  parts 
of  natural  and  revealed  religion,  together  with  the  Constitution  and  Dis- 
cipline of  the  Christian  Church,  and  proposed  them  to  their  consideration ; 
since  which  they  have  formed  a  congregation  at  the  chapel,  and  a  few 
have  acceded  at  French's  and  Sandy  River.*  I  preach  at  the  churches 
by  permission,  and  intend  to  continue,  God  willing,  until  the  first  of 
January,  at  which  time,  if  congregations  should  not  be  formed  at  the 
lower  churches,  my  time  will  be  confined  to  the  chapel,  and  such  other 
place  or  places  as  Providence  may  point  out  and  the  good  spirit  of  God 
unite  his  people  at/' 

It  appears  that,  failing  to  attach  his  old  Episcopal  congregations 
to  the  Independent  Church,  which  he  was  endeavouring  to  establish, 
he  afterward  connected  himself  with  the  Presbyterian,  which  was 
then  gaining  ground  in  that  region,  as  we  find  him  spoken  of  as  a 
minister  of  that  communion.  Of  his  subsequent  history  we  know 
little.  That  he  was  a  pious  and  conscientious  man  we  are  well  con- 
vinced, f 


*  These  are  the  distinguishing-names  of  the  three  churches  in  the  parish  in  which 
he  had  been  minister. 

f  A  correspondent,  (not  of  the  Episcopal  communion,)  who  seems  well  acquainted 
with  the  history  of  this  period  and  region,  writes  thus  concerning  Mr.  McRoberts : — 
"  He  was,  like  many  other  of  the  old  Episcopal  clergy,  a  Scotchman  by  birth. 
The  opinion  you  express  concerning  him  was,  I  dare  say,  the  general  one,  and  is 
certainly  the  judgment  of  charity.  There  were  persons,  however,  who  thought  that 
he  showed  something  of  the  wariness  of  his  countrymen  in  abandoning  a  sinking 
ship.  He  married  a  daughter  of  Robert  Munford,  of  Mechlenburg,  (whose  wife  was 
Maria  Bland.)  Mrs.  McRoberts  was  amiable  indeed,  but  more  remarkable  for 
genius  than  for  those  domestic  virtues  which  best  befit  a  minister's  wife."  My  cor- 
respondent also  mentions  an  anecdote  of  Mr.  McRoberts  which  will  not  be  without 
interest  to  our  readers: — "  Most  of  the  able-bodied  men  of  Prince  Edward  were  off 
with  the  army,  on  duty  elsewhere,  when  Tarleton  with  his  troop  of  cavalry  made  his 
foray  through  that  and  the  neighbouring  counties.  He  visited  sundry  houses  in 
Prince  Edward,  attempted  to  frighten  women  and  children,  destroyed  much  fur- 
niture, and  otherwise  did  wanton  mischief.  A  detachment  was  also  sent  to  the  glebe, 
and  M?f.  McRoberts  had  hardly  time  to  escape.  They  ripped  open  feather-beds, 

29 


450  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

After  Mr.  McRoberts,  in  1776,  we  have  no  records  to  inform  us 
who  was  the  minister  of  Dale  parish  until  the  Convention  of  1785, 
the  first  after  the  Establishment  was  put  down,  when  the  Rev.  Wil- 
liam Leigh,  who  was  ordained  by  the  Bishop  of  London  in  1772, 
was  the  clerical  delegate.  His  name  does  not  appear  after  this,  and 
I  am  informed  that  he  died  in  the  year  1786  or  '87,  aged  thirty- 
nine  years.  In  the  year  1776,  I  find  he  was  the  minister  of  Man- 
chester parish  in  the  same  county.  He  was  the  only  son  of  Fer- 
dinand Leigh,  of  West  Point,  in  King  and  Queen  county,  Virginia. 
His  father  early  dedicated  him  to  the  ministry.  He  was  educated 
at  William  and  Mary  College.  He  married  the  daughter  of  Ben- 
jamin Watkins,  Clerk  of  Chesterfield  county.  He  lived  at  Dale 
glebe,  near  Petersburg,  and  preached  at  Wood's  Church  and  Ware 
Bottom,  or  Osburne's,  alternately,  and  sometimes  at  Saponey  Church, 
of  Chesterfield.  Mr.  Leigh  was  the  father  of  Judge  William  Leigh, 
of  Halifax  county,  and  Benjamin  Watkins  Leigh,  of  Richmond, 
both  of  them  so  well  known  in  Virginia, — the  one  as  lawyer  and 
judge,  the  other  as  lawyer  and  statesman ;  also  of  two  sisters, 
Mrs.  Finnie  and  Mrs.  Harris,  zealous  members  of  our  Church.* 


broke  mirrors,  &c.,  and  went  off,  having  set  fire  to  the  house.  It  burned  slowly 
at  first,  but  the  building  would  have  been  consumed  had  not  a  shower  of  rain  come 
up  suddenly  and  extinguished  the  flames.  Mr.  McRoberts,  who  regarded  this  as  a 
special  interposition  of  Providence,  called  the  place  Providence, — a  name  it  has 
borne  to  this  day.  When  the  glebe  was  sold  he  became  the  purchaser.  It  after- 
ward became  the  property  of  Colonel  Venable,  one  of  whose  children  still  owns 
it." 

*  The  name  of  Watkins  is  often  to  be  found  on  our  vestry-books  as  members  of  the 
vestries  in  different  parishes.  Many  of  the  name  have  for  a  century  past  been  found 
in  different  connections.  In  the  year  1745,  a  Mr.  Thomas  Watkins,  of  Henrico,  son 
of  Edward  Watkins,  is  presented  for  reflecting  upon  the  Established  Church,  and 
saying,  "Your  churches  and  chapels  are  no  better  than  synagogues  of  Satan." 
He  was,  however,  dismissed  without  fine  or  injury.  This  was  probably  the  com- 
mencement of  defection  in  that  family  from  the  Established  Church.  I  have  be- 
fore me  a  pamphlet  by  Mr.  Francis  Watkins,  of  Prince  Edward,  in  which  is 
contained  a  full  genealogy  of  all  the  branches  of  this  wide-spread  and  respectable 
family,  so  far  as  it  can  be  ascertained,  to  the  present  time.  It  is  supposed  to  be  of 
Welsh  descent.  The  name  of  James  Watkins  appears  among  the  early  emigrants 
to  Virginia  in  1607  or  1608.  He  was  a  companion  of  Smith  in  his  perilous  voyages 
of  discovery  in  Virginia,  and  may,  it  is  supposed,  have  been  the  first  ancestor  of 
the  family ;  but  nothing  was  certainly  known  except  of  the  descendants  of  Thomas 
Watkins,  of  Swift  Creek,  Cumberland  county, — nowPowhatan, — whose  will  bears  date 
1760.  He  had  eight  children.  His  eldest  son,  Thomas,  of  Chickahominy,  is  spoken 
of  thus  by  the  late  Benjamin  Watkins  Leigh,  his  great-nephew: — "Of  Thomas 
Watkins,  of  Chickahominy,  I  have  heard  very  full  accounts  from  my  mother  (wife 
of  the  Rev.  William  Leigh,  of  Chesterfield)  and  from  my  uncle  Thomas,  both  of 
whom  knew  him  well.  He  was  a  man  of  the  highest  respectability  in  every  point 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  451 

Of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Leigh,  the  testimony  of  children  and  of  many 
others  speaks  nothing  but  what  is  good.  He  was  succeeded  by  the 
Rev.  Needier  Robinson,  whose  name  first  appears  on  our  journal 
as  its  minister  in  1790.  He  continued  to  be  its  minister— nomi- 
nally at  least— until  his  death,  in  1823.  The  Episcopal  Church 
in  Chesterfield  nearly  disappeared  during  the  period  of  his.  ministry. 
Indeed,  his  time  and  labours  were  chiefly  devoted  to  a  school  from 
the  first.  Although  he  lived  so  many  years  after  our  Conventions 
in  Richmond  were  renewed,  and  was  so  near  the  place,  he  never 
attended  them. 

I  have  been  furnished  with  a  few  leaves  from  the  vestry-book  of 
Dale  parish,  from  the  years  1790  to  1799,  from  which  I  am  able 
to  give  a  list  of  the  vestrymen  during  that  period.  They  are  as 
follows : — Jerman  Baker,  John  Botts,  George  Robertson,  Richard 
Bosker,  Blackman  Morly,  Thomas  Boiling,  King  Graves,  Arch. 
Walthall,  Arch.  Bass,  Jesse  Coghill,  Daniel  McCallum,  Charles 

of  view,  and  in  particular  a  man  of  indefatigable  industry."  He  reared  a  large 
family  of  children,  four  sons  and  seven  daughters,  from  whom  have  proceeded  nu- 
merous families  of  numerous  names,  in  and  out  of  Virginia.  Of  his  son  Joel  Wat- 
kins,  of  Charlotte,  Mr.  John  Randolph  of  Roanoke,  in  a  manuscript  left  behind 
him,  says, — "On  Sunday,  the  second  of  January,  departed  this  life  Colonel  Joel 
Watkins,  beloved,  honoured,  and  lamented  by  all  who  knew  him.  Without  shining 
abilities  or  the  advantages  of  an  education,  by  plain,  straightforward  industry, 
under  the  guidance  of  old-fashioned  honesty  and  practical  good  sense,  he  accumu- 
lated an  ample  fortune,  in  which  it  is  firmly  believed  there  was  not  one  dirty  shil- 
ling" Much  is  said  of  the  worth  and  piety  of  other  children  of  Thomas  Watkins, 
in  the  pamphlet  referred  to,  and  of  the  descendants  of  the  same,  which  is  worthy  of 
perusal.  In  the  appendix  of  the  same  there  is  a  special  notice  of  his  brother  Ben- 
jamin Watkins,  youngest  son  of  the  first  Thomas,  of  Powhatan,  who  married  Miss 
Gary,  of  Warwick.  He  was  the  first  clerk  of  Chesterfield  county,  which  office  he 
held  until  his  death.  He  was  a  man  of  genius,  a  scholar  and  patriot,  took  an 
active  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  Revolution,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Convention 
of  1776.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Leigh,  of  Chesterfield,  married  his  daughter,  and  was  the 
father  of  the  late  Benjamin  Watkins  Leigh,  of  Richmond,  and  the  present  Judge 
William  Leigh,  of  Halifax ;  also  of  Mrs.  Finnic,  of  Powhatan,  and  Mrs.  Harris,  of 
Petersburg.  One  of  the  sons  (Thomas)  of  Benjamin  Watkins,  the  clerk  of  Ches- 
terfield, married  Rebecca  Selden,  daughter  of  Miles  Selden,  of  Henrico  parish. 
Their  daughter  Mary  was  the  first  wife  of  Benjamin  Watkins  Leigh.  Their  daugh- 
ter Rebecca  married  Judge  William  Leigh,  of  Halifax,  and  their  daughter  Hannah 
Dr.  John  Barksdale,  of  Halifax.  The  eldest  daughter  (Hannah)  of  Benjamin  Wat- 
kins  married  a  Mr.  William  Finnie,  of  Amelia,  from  whom  have  descended  nume- 
rous families  of  Finnies,  Royalls,  Woreshams,  Sydnors,  and  others  in  Virginia,  South 
Carolina,  and  the  West.  It  will  be  remembered  that  we  have  spoken  of  a  Rev. 
Alexander  Finnie,  as  a  minister  in  Prince  George  in  the  year  1774,  and  probably 
before  and  after  that.  On  inquiry  we  find  that  he  was  connected  with  this  family, 
but  how  nearly  cannot  be  ascertained.  He  may  have  been  closely  allied  to  the 
first-named  William  Finnie,  of  Amelia. 


4:52  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

Graves,  George  Woodson,  Henry  Winfree,  Roger  Atkinson,  Tho- 
mas Friend,  Charles  Duncan,  Daniel  Dyson,  John  Hill,  Henry 
Archer. 

On  the  same  loose  leaves  we  have  a  number  of  subscription-lists, 
on  which  are  names  well  known  to  us  at  this  day.  The  object,  we 
presume,  was  for  repairing  the  churches  about  the  year  1790. 
Among  them,  besides  the  above-named  vestrymen,  were  the  follow- 
ing,— a  few  among  many : — Osborne,  Rowlett,  Burton,  Roisseau, 
Taylor,  Gibbs,  Royall,  Shore,  Worsham,  Branch,  Tanner,  Ran- 
dolph, Burwell,  Goode,  Ward,  Clarke,  Hardaway,  Walke,  Barber, 
Donald,  Bragg,  Epps,  Belcher,  Hodges,  Marshall,  &c. 

Nothing  is  heard  of  this  parish  for  a  long  and  dark  period. 

In  the  year  1835,  the  Rev.  Farley  Berkeley  takes  charge  of 
Raleigh  parish,  Amelia,  and  extends  his  labours  to  Old  Saponey 
Church,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  a  few  zealous  friends  of  it, — the 
Thweats,  Johnsons,  and  others.  He  has  been  succeeded  for  some 
years  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Tizzard,  who  devotes  his  whole  time  and 
labours  to  the  county  of  Chesterfield. 

The  Old  Saponey  is  deserted  :  a  new  church  has  been  erected 
some  miles  off,  in  a  more  convenient  location.  Wood's  Church  is 
still  standing.  The  following  communication  in  relation  to  it  comes 
from  such  a  source  that  I  feel  sure  I  shall  not  do  injustice  to  any 
one  in  publishing  it  :— 

"About  1831  or  1832,  the  old  deserted  church  was  repaired  by  the 
united  efforts  of  two  bodies  of  Christians,  and  occupied  by  them  until  it 
was  abandoned  by  both  in  1848.  Another  repairing  being  found  neces- 
sary, it  was  undertaken  by  a  gentleman  attached  to  the  Episcopal  Church. 
By  him  it  was  restored  to  the  Episcopalians,  and  at  his  invitation  the  first 
sermon  preached  by  a  minister  of  that  body.  Before  the  next  Sunday, 
however,  the  house  had  been  entered,  the  main  door  fastened  up,  a  lock  put 
upon  a  side-door,  and  the  building  taken  possession  of  by  one  of  those 
bodies  which  had  deserted  it.  Anxious  to  recover  their  lawful  right  to 
this  venerable  building,  the  Episcopalians  of  the  neighbourhood  made  ap- 
plication to  the  judge  to  appoint  two  of  their  number  to  hold  it  as  Epis- 
copal property.  The  application  was  rejected,  on  the  ground  that  it  was 
public  property,  and  belonged  no  more  to  Episcopalians  than  to  any  other 
body  of  Christians.  During  the  last  repair  the  workmen  discovered  on  one 
of  the  upright  beams  the  figures  1707,  showing  that  it  was  built  thirty 
years  before  the  Old  Blandford  Church." 

In  regard  to  the  right  of  property  I  have  before  said,  that  that 
most  eminent  jurist,  Mr.  Chapman  Johnson,  after  the  most  tho- 
rough examination  of  the  question,  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  the 
right  of  the  Church  to  the  old  houses  of  worship  was  not  impaired 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  453 

by  any  Act  of  the  Virginia  Assembly.  It  would  appear  very  un 
likely  that  such  a  body  would  pass  an  act  so  well  calculated  to 
engage  all  bodies  of  Christians  in  such  disgraceful  broils  as  must 
ensue  from  declaring  them  common  property,  to  be  used  as  art  or 
violence  might  determine.  It  would  have  been  far  better  to  offer 
them  to  the  highest  bidder, — as  was  done  in  regard  to  the  glebes 
and  parsonages,  which  were,  as  the  churches,  built  by  levies  on 
all  the  tithables.  As  when  Episcopalians  have  abandoned  their 
churches  and  others  take  possession,  so,  when  these  in  turn  have 
abandoned  them,  and  we,  under  altered  circumstances,  repair  and 
re-enter  them,  it  would  seem  just  and  reasonable  that  we  be  allowed 
so  to  do. 

MANCHESTER   PARISH,  CHESTERFIELD   COUNTY. 

This  parish  was  taken  from  Dale  parish  in  1T72.  The  dividing- 
line  commenced  at  the  mouth  of  Falling  Creek,  on  James  River, 
and  ended  at  the  mouth  of  Winterbock  Creek,  on  the  Appomattox. 
In  the  following  year  the  line  was  altered ;  the  upper  part,  includ- 
ing Manchester,  was  Manchester  parish.  At  Falling  Creek  there 
are,  I  believe,  still  the  remains  of  an  old  and  venerable  church, — 
whether  built  before  or  after  the  division  I  am  unable  to  say,  but 
most  probably  before  I  presume  there  must  also  have  been  one  in 
or  near  Manchester.  The  troublous  times  of  the  Revolution  being 
at  hand  when  it  became  a  parish,  it  is  probable  that  nothing  was 
done  toward  building  churches  in  it  after  the  division. 

As  to  ministers,  we  read  of  the  Rev.  William  Leigh,  who  took 
charge  of  it  in  1773  and  kept  it  until  1777;  how  much  longer  we 
cannot  say,  as  we  have  no  lists  of  the  clergy  after  that  until  1785, 
and  in  1786  he  was  minister  of  Dale  parish.  In  1785,  the  Rev. 
Paul  Clay  is  minister  for  one  year.  In  the  year  1790,  the  Rev. 
William  Cameron,  brother  of  Dr.  John  Cameron,  was  minister,  and 
continued  so  for  four  years.  In  the  year  1799,  the  Rev.  John 
Dunn  is  the  minister.  After  this  there  is  no  delegation  from  this 
parish,  except  when  the  names  of  Mr.  David  Patterson  and  James 
Patterson  appear  as  laymen  in  1805.  I  remember  the  former  well, 
as  a  constant  attendant  at  our  Conventions  in  Richmond  after  their 
revival  in  1812.  He  took  a  deep  interest  in  all  the  movements  of 
the  Church  until  his  death.  If  not  a  reader  at  Falling  Creek 
Church  before,  he  was  appointed  such  by  Bishop  Moore,  and  con- 
tinued to  the  last  to  officiate  to  the  few  who  remained  in  our  com- 
munion around  the  old  temple. 


$ 

454  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

I  conclude  the  little  I  have  to  say  of  the  parish  of  Manchester 
and  Falling  Creek  Church  with  the  following  notice  of  it  by  a 
young  brother  in  the  ministry,  who  visited  them  both  a  few  years 
since : — 

FALLING    CREEK   CHURCH. 

"  I  visited  Falling  Creek  Church  in  1849,  and  note  the  following  par- 
ticulars concerning  it : — • 

"  This  church  is  in  Chesterfield  county,  about  thirteen  miles  southwest 
of  Richmond.  It  is  situated  in  what  is  now  a  very  secluded  spot.  I  in- 
stinctively raised  my  hat  as  I  crossed  the  old  decaying  threshold  and  stood 
under  the  roof  of  this  ancient  edifice.  It  is  a  wooden  building,  the  tim- 
bers of  the  very  best  quality,  and  even  at  the  time  [1849]  in  a  state  of 
almost  perfect  preservation.  After  the  old  style,  we  find  the  clerk's  desk 
at  the  foot  of  the  reading-desk,  and,  rising  above  both,  the  pulpit, — the 
latter  of  octagonal  form,  with  a  sounding-board.  These  were  at  the  side 
of  the  church.  At  the  end  of  the  aisle,  and  opposite  the  main  entrance, 
were  the  chancel  and  communion-table.  A  side-door  faces  the  pulpit.  The 
•window-shutters  were,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  all  missing.  The  sashes 
had  been  taken  from  the  windows  arid  scattered  about  the  church  and 
yard,  and  none  of  them  appeared  to  have  ever  had  a  single  pane  of 
glass,  so  carefully  had  the  work  of  appropriation  been  carried  on.  The 
pews  are  square,  with  seats  on  all  four  sides,  and  capable  of  accommo- 
dating about  fifteen  or  twenty  persons  each.  About  two  hundred  persons 
could  have  been  comfortably  seated  on  the  floor  of  the  church,  while  many 
additional  sittings  might  have  been  found  in  a  gallery  which  ran  across 
the  end  of  the  house  opposite  the  chancel. 

"  A  gray-haired  old  negro — not  very  talkative,  but  a  coloured  gentleman 
of  the  old  school,  for  his  manners  were  almost  courtly — informed  me  that 
he  could  'just  remember  when  the  church  was  built,  being  then  a  mere  boy.' 
He  said  that  it  was  always  crowded  'when  the  clergyman  with  the  black 
gown  preached/  He  remembered,  too,  '  when  the  British  soldiers  camped 
in  the  churchyard/ — at  whose  appearance  his  master  and  mistress,  and  all 
their  family,  hurriedly  fled.  The  name  of  his  master  I  have  forgotten.  He 
pointed  out  one  of  the  largest  trees  in  the  churchyard,  and  told  me  he  had 
seen  that  tree  planted  as  a  scion  at  the  head  of  an  infant's  grave.  He 
had  forgotten  whose  child  it  was.  The  Baptists  had  used  the  church 
for  some  time,  until  of  late  years,  when  they  abandoned  it,  owing  to  its 
retired  position.  It  was  taken  possession  of  by  those  who  did  not  feel  it 
was  holy  ground,  for  its  walls  were  desecrated  with  scribbling  unsuited  to 
the  sacreduess  of  the  place ;  and  about  a  month  before  my  visit  the  dead 
body  of  a  poor  creature,  noted  in  the  neighbourhood  for  his  drunken 
habits,  was  discovered  lying  at  the  foot  of  the  clerk's  desk,  much  defaced 
by  the  rats.  Better  that  the  owls  and  the  bats  should  have  undisturbed 
possession,  than  that  God's  image  should  thus  be  defiled  in  the  house  of 
prayer." 

There  was  a  warm  friend  of  the  Church  living  near  this  place, 
of  whom  it  becomes  us  to  make  some  mention.  Mr.  Archibald 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  455 

Gary,  of  Amphill,  in  Chesterfield,  appears  in  the  Episcopal  Con- 
ventions in  the  years  1785  and  1786.  as  delegate  from  Dale  parish. 
In  the  last  of  these  years  he  died.  I  refer  my  readers  to  Mr. 
Grigsby's  work  on  the  Convention  of  1776,  for  a  sketch  of  the  po- 
litical character  and  patriotic  services  of  Mr.  Gary.  He  was  among 
the  very  foremost  of  the  patriots  of  Virginia.  "  It  was  from  his 
lips,  as  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  the  Whole,  that  the  words 
of  the  resolution  of  Independence,  of  the  Declaration  of  Rights, 
and  a  plan  of  government,  first  fell  upon  the  public  ear."  The 
following  is  a  brief  sketch  of  one  branch  of  the  Carys,  from  Mr. 
Grigsby's  book : — 

"  Miles  Gary,  the  son  of  John  Gary,  of  Bristol,  England,  came  to  Vir- 
ginia in  1640,  and  settled  in  the  county  of  Warwick,  which,  in  1659,  he  re- 
presented in  the  House  of  Burgesses.  In  1667  he  died,  leaving  four  sons. 
His  son  Henry,  father  of  Archibald,  was  appointed  to  superintend  the 
building  of  the  capitol  at  Williamsburg,  (when  the  seat  of  government 
was  removed  from  Jamestown;)  also  at  a  later  period  to  superintend  the 
rebuilding  of  the  college,  which  had  been  burnt.  He  married  a  daughter  of 
Richard  Randolph,  of  Curies,  and  left  five  daughters,  who  married  Thos. 
Mann  Randolph,  of  Tuckahoe,  Thos.  Isham  Randolph,  of  Dungeness, 
Archibald  Boiling,  Carter  Page,  of  Cumberland,  and  Joseph  Kincade." 

This  branch  has  been  denominated  the  Iron  Carys,  from  the  fact 
that  Archibald  Gary  was  called  "Old  Iron,"  either,  says  Mr. 
Grigsby,  because  of  his  "capacity  of  physical  endurance"  or 
"his  indomitable  courage,"  or  because  he  had  an  iron  furnace 
and  mills  at  Falling  Creek,  on  the  site  of  one  established  by 
Colonel  Berkeley,  who,  with  a  number  of  his  men,  was  murdered 
by  the  Indians  in  1622.  Mr.  Gary's  mills  were  burned  by  Colonel 
Tarleton  in  the  American  war. 


J   • 

456  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 


ARTICLE  XLII. 

St.  James  Northam,  GrooMand  County. 

GOOCHLAND  COUNTY  was  cut  off  from  Henrico  in  1727.  In  the 
year  1744  the  parish  of  St.  James  Northam,  was  restricted  to  the 
north  side  of  the  river,  and  that  on  the  south  side  was  called  St. 
James  Southam,  both  of  them  being  in  Goochland,  which  still  lay 
on  both  sides  of  the  river,  and  extended  from  the  Louisa  line  to 
Appomattox  River.  Albemarle  county  and  parish  were  also  in  this 
year  taken  from  Goochland,  by  a  line  from  Louisa  to  the  Appo- 
mattox. We  shall  now  speak  of  the  parish  of  St.  James  Northam, 
in  Goochland,  on  the  north  of  James  River.  The  vestry-book 
which  we  have  commences  at  its  division  in  1744.  How  long  it 
had  been  supplied  with  services  before  this  we  are  unable  to  ascer- 
tain. The  vestry-book  begins  with  stating  that,  the  parish  being 
divided  into  three  parts,  each  parish  was  at  liberty  to  choose  its 
own  minister,  and  since  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gavin,  who  had  been  the 
minister  of  the  undivided  parish,  was  disliked  by  many,  the  vestry 
would  procure  another.  To  this  Mr.  Gavin  did  not  agree,  but  in- 
sisted on  choosing  this  part,  and  did  continue  the  minister  until  his 
death  in  1749.  There  is  no  charge  brought  against  the  character 
of  Mr.  Gavin,  but  only  that  he  was  not  acceptable  to  many  of  the 
people.  The  following  letter  of  Mr.  Gavin  to  the  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don may  perhaps  throw  some  light  upon  the  subject: — 

Mr.  Gavin  to  the  Bishop  of  London. 

"  ST.  JAMES  PARISH,  GOOCHLAND,  August  5,  1738. 

"  RIGHT  REV.  FATHER  IN  GOD  : — I  received  your  Lordship's  blessing  in 
May,  1735,  and  by  bad  weather  we  were  obliged  to  go  up  to  Maryland, 
and  from  thence  five  weeks  after  I  came  to  Williamsburg,  and  was  kindly 
received  by  our  Governor  and  Mr.  Commissary  Blair.  I  got  immediately 
a  parish,  which  I  served  nine  mouths;  but  hearing  that  a  frontier-parish 
was  vacant,  and  that  the  people  of  the  mountains  had  never  seen  a  clergy- 
man since  they  were  settled  there,  I  desired  the  Governor's  consent  to 
leave  an  easy  parish  for  this  I  do  now  serve.  I  have  three  churches, 
twenty-three  and  twenty-four  miles  from  the  glebe,  in  which  I  officiate 
every  third  Sunday;  and,  besides  these  three,  I  have  seven  places  of  service 
up  in  the  mountains,  where  the  clerks  read  prayers, — four  clerks  in  the 
seven  places.  I  go  twice  a  year  to  preach  in  twelve  places,  which  I  reckon 
better  than  four  hundred  miles  backward  and  forward,  and  ford  nineteen 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  457 

times  the  North  and  South  Rivers.  I  have  taken  four  trips  already,  a&i 
the  20th  instant  I  go  up  again.  In  my  first  journey  I  baptized  white 
people,  209;  blacks,  172;  Quakers,  15;  Anabaptists,  2;  and  of  the  white 
people  there  were  baptized  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  years  of  age,  4 ; 
from  twelve  to  twenty,  35;  and  from  eight  to  twelve,  189.  I  found,  on 
my  first  coming  into  the  parish,  but  six  persons  that  received  the  Sacra- 
ment, which  my  predecessors  never  administered  but  in  the  lower  church ; 
and,  blessed  be  God,  I  have  now  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  that  receive 
twice  a  year,  and  in  the  lower  part  three  times  a  year,  which  fills  my  heart 
with  joy,  and  makes  all  my  pains  and  fatigues  very  agreeable  to  me.  I 
struggle  with  many  difficulties  with  Quakers,  who  are  countenanced  by 
high-minded  men,  but  I  wrestle  with  wickedness  in  high  places,  and  the 
Lord  gives  me  utterance  to  speak  boldly  as  I  ought  to  speak.  I  find  that 
my  strength  faileth  me  ;  but  I  hope  the  Lord  will  be  my  strength  and 
helper,  that  I  may  fight  the  good  fight  and  finish  my  course  in  the  minis- 
try which  is  given  me  to  fulfil  the  word  of  God. 

"  There  is  one  thing  which  grieves  my  heart, — viz. :  to  see  Episcopacy  so 
little  regarded  in  this  Colony,  and  the  cognizance  of  spiritual  affairs  left  to 
Governors  and  Council  by  the  laws  of  this  Colony.  And  next  to  this,  it 
gives  me  a  great  deal  of  uneasiness  to  see  the  greatest  part  of  our  brethren 
taken  up  in  farming  and  buying  slaves,  which  in  my  humble  opinion  is 
unlawful  for  any  Christian  and  particularly  for  clergymen.  By  this  the 
souls  committed  to  their  care  must  suffer;  and  this  evil  cannot  be  redressed, 
for  want  of  a  yearly  convocation,  which  has  not  been  called  these  ten 
years. 

"  The  Rev.  Mr.  Blair  I  really  believe  is  a  good  man,  and  has  been  a 
good  minister,  but  he  cannot  act  in  his  commission  as  it  is  required,  and  I 
have  always  wished  that  your  Lordship  would  send  as  a  Deputy-Commis- 
sary a  clergyman  of  known  zeal,  courage,  and  resolution,  and  such  as 
could  redress  some  great  neglects  of  duty  in  our  brethren,  and  bring  Epis- 
copacy to  be  regarded ;  for  even  some  of  the  clergymen  born  and  educated 
in  this  Colony  are  guilty  in  this  point. 

"  Pardon,  my  Lord,  these  my  open  expressions.  I  think  myself  obliged 
in  conscience  to  acquaint  your  Lordship  with  these  evils,  in  hopes  that 
God  will  direct  you  to  prevent  them  in  some  measure;  for,  though  I  know 
how  things  go  with  us  in  this  world,  we  do  not  know  what  shall  become 
of  us  in  the  next. 

"And  that  God  may  bless  and  preserve  your  Lordship,  and  grant  plen- 
teousness  to  your  family,  is,  has  been,  and  shall  be,  the  daily  prayer  of, 

"My  Lord  your  Lordship's  most  obedient  and  submissive  son  and 
servant  in  Jesus,  ANTHONY  GAVIN." 

From  the  foregoing  it  may  be  inferred  that  he  was  a  zealous  and 
laborious  man,  and  very  plain  in  his  speech.  His  views  of  slavery 
were  sufficient,  if  expressed,  to  make  him  very  unacceptable  to  many 
of  his  parishioners.  It  would  seem,  also,  that  there  had  been 
ministers  in  the  parish  before  him,  but  they  confined  their  labours 
to  the  lower  church,— probably  that  at  Dover,  nearest  to  Richmond, 
—whereas  he  extended  his  to  the  mountains,  at  least  fifty  or  sixty 
miles  farther  up. 

Immediately  after  his  death  the  Rev.  Mr.  Douglass  was  chosen. 


, 

458  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,    AND 

He  entered  on  his  duties  in  1750.     His  history  and  character  de- 
serve some  notice,  and  must  be  acceptable  to  his  numerous  and  re- 
spectable descendants.    They  are  gathered  chiefly  from  a  large  regis- 
ter of  baptisms,  funerals,  marriages,  sermons,  &c.,  interspersed  with 
other  notices,  throwing  some  light  upon  the  peculiarities  which  dis- 
tinguished him.     The  Kev.  William  Douglass  was  from  Scotland. 
In  the  year  1735  he  married  Miss  Nicholas  Hunter,  by  whom  he 
had  only  one  child, — a  daughter  named  Margaret.     In  the  year 
1748  or  1749,  leaving  them  behind,  he  came  over  as  teacher  in  the 
family  of  Colonel  Monroe,  of  Westmoreland,  father  of  President 
Monroe,  who  was  one  of  his  pupils,  as  was  also  Mr.  Jefferson  after- 
ward, in  Goochland.     After  some  time,  returning  to  England,  he 
was  ordained,  and  brought  back  his  wife  and  daughter  in  the  year 
1750,  and  in  the  same  year  settled  himself  in  Goochland.     His 
daughter  Margaret,  whom  he  always  called  Peggy,  married  Mr. 
Nicholas  Meriwether,  of  Albemarle,  and  they  were  the  ancestors 
of  many  of  that  name  in  Virginia.     He  brought  with  him,  or  had 
sent  to  him,  two  nephews  from  Scotland,  whom  he  adopted,  edu- 
cated, and  called  his  children.     He  had  a  brother  named  James, 
who   settled  in  New  York   and  left   a  numerous   posterity  there. 
Perhaps  some  of  that  name  who  have  ministered  in  our  Church 
may  be  his  descendants.     A  few  years  since  a  Mr.  George  Douglass 
and  two  daughters  from  this  family  in  New  York  paid  a  visit  to 
Albemarle  to  see  their  relatives  in  that  county,  when   a   happy 
family  meeting  occurred.     One  of  the  adopted  sons  of  Mr.  Douglass 
(William)  returned  to  Scotland  and  inherited  a  title.     The  other 
(James)  went  to  New  York   and   became   a   successful    merchant. 
One  of  his  daughters  married  James   Monroe,  (the  nephew  and 
adopted  son  of  President  Monroe,)  who  some  years  since  represented 
the  city  of  New  York  in  Congress.     After  this  biographical  notice 
of  himself  and  family,  I  return  to  his  register,  from  which  we  learn 
some  things  concerning  the  early  history  of  this  parish  nowhere 
else  to  be  found.     He  states,  as  coming  to  him  from  good  authority, 
that  the  church  at  Dover  was  undertaken  by  Mr.  Thomas  Mann 
Randolph  in  1720;  that  it  was  finished  in  1724  at  a  cost  of  fifty- 
four  thousand  nine  hundred  and  ninety  pounds  of  tobacco ;  that  it 
was  fifty  by  twenty-four  feet  in  size;    that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Finnic 
was  employed  during  those  four  years  to  preach  once  a  month ;  that 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Murdaugh  was  then  received  as  a  minister ;   that  he 
was  to  preach  the  last  Sunday  in  every  month  alternately  at  the 
plantation  of  Mr.  Robert  Carter,  on  the  south  side  of  James  River, 
and  of  Major  Boiling,  on  the  north  side  of  James  River.  We  learn, 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  459 

also,  that  in  the  year  1727  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brooke  preached  once  per 
month  for  them ;  and  that  in  the  same  year  the  Rev.  Mr.  Beckett 
was  received  into  the  parish  as  a  minister.  We  learn  also,  from  his 
diary  kept  in  this  register,  that  ministers  were  very  scarce  in  the 
surrounding  counties,  so  that  Mr.  Douglass  had  much  duty  to  per- 
form in  the  way  of  funerals,  marriages,  &c.  He  records  one  thou- 
sand three  hundred  and  eighty-eight  marriages  and  four  thousand 
and  sixty-nine  baptisms.  His  views  of  -doctrine  and  ministerial 
character  may  be  seen  from  the  favourable  notice  taken  of  Turre- 
tine,  Doddridge,  Walker,  Hill,  and  Whitefield, — also,  of  Shower's 
Sacramental  Discourses.  In  one  of  Doddridge's  works — his  Ser- 
mons to  Young  Men — he  has  written  on  a  blank  leaf  these  lines  to 
his  children : — 

"  This,  with  all  Doddridge's  other  writings,  I  leave  as  my  best  legacy 
to  my  dear  children,  to  supply  my  deficiencies  in  your  education,  which  I 
now  sadly  remember  has  been  shamefully  neglected.  Part  with  none  of 
his  works  for  gold  or  silver,  but  let  your  children  enjoy  them,  if  you 
will  not. 

"  I  am  your  loving  father, 

"  WILLIAM  DOUGLASS." 

To  this  I  add  an  extract  from  a  letter  to  one  of  his  nephews,  just 
married,  not  long  before  his  death  : — 

"Industry,  frugality,  good  contrivance,  with  the  divine  blessing,  are 
the  only  schemes  to  make  us  happy  for  this  world  and  another.  That  was 
your  father's  and  grandfather's  scheme;  and  oh,  Billy  and  Martha,  make 
it  yours !  Set  up,  by  all  means,  the  worship  of  God  in  your  family;  and 
let  others  about  you  do  what  they  will,  and  heap  up  riches  by  every 
method,  but  as  for  you  and  your  family,  do  you  serve  God.  As  for  me, 
I  am  quite  unfit  for  this  world,  and  am  daily  waiting  till  my  change 
come." 

As  to  the  time  in  which  the  churches  were  completed,  with 
the  exception  of  that  at  Dover,  it  is  not  easy  to  determine.  The 
three  churches  at  which  Mr.  Douglass  officiated  were  Dover, 
Beaver  Dam,  and  Licking  Hole.  In  the  year  1777,  after  a  minis- 
try of  twenty-seven  years,  he  resided  his  charge,  and  settled  on 
a  farm  in  Louisa,  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  years, 
which  were  not  many.  In  that  year  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hall  was  ap- 
pointed for  twelve  months,  to  be  continued  or  rejected  at  pleasure 
when  the  time  expired.  In  the  year  1781  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hill  was 
minister.  In  that  year  the  glebe  rented  for  only  five  hundred- 
weight of  tobacco.  In  .the  year  1787,  a  tax  of  three  pounds  and 
ten  shillings  was  levied,  or  called  for,  in  order  to  defray  the  ex- 


I 

460  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  AND 

penses  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Griffith's  consecration  as  Bishop,  of  which 
Mr.  Thomas  Mann  Randolph  paid  three  pounds.  So  many  of  the 
parishes  failed  of  their  contributions  that  the  consecration  did  not 
take  place.  In  the  year  1789,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hopkins  was  chosen 
minister,  and  continued  such  until  his  death,  in  1807,  when  the 
old  vestry-book  ceased.  All  the  accounts  received  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Hopkins  are  of  the  most  favourable  kind.  His  first  minis- 
terial years  were  spent  among  the  Methodists ;  but  in  conse- 
quence of  some  dissensions  among  them,  or  their  separation  from 
the  Episcopal  Church,  he  entered  into  the  ministry  of  the  latter. 
Tradition  says  that  he  was  ordained  by  Bishop  White,  at  a  time 
when  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  and  the  General  Con- 
vention of  the  Episcopal  Church  were  both  sitting  in  Philadelphia : 
that,  being  called  on  to  preach  before  civil  and  ecclesiastical  digni- 
taries, and  especially  with  General  Washington  full  in  view,  he 
was  for  a  time  overwhelmed,  but  roused  himself  up  to  boldness 
by  remembering  "  that  a  mightier  than  Washington  was  there." 
Soon  after  his  ordination  he  became  the  minister  of  Hollowing 
Creek  and  Allen's  Creek  Churches,  in  Hanover  county,  supply- 
ing also  the  Manakin  and  Peterville  Churches,  in  Powhatan.  In 
1787,  he  became  minister  of  Beaver  Dam  and  Licking  Hole 
Churches,  Dover  Church  being  left  out.  He  died  in  the  seventieth 
year  of  his  age,  universally  esteemed  and  beloved.  He  was  mar- 
ried twice,  and  had  eleven  children  by  each  wife.  His  first  wife 
was  a  Miss  Pollard,  the  second  a  Miss  Anderson.* 

After  a  long  and  dreary  interval  of  utter  destitution,  the  hopes 
and  efforts  of  the  few  remaining  friends  and  members  of  the 
Church  in  Goochland  and  the  neighbouring  counties  were  aroused, 
in  the  year  1726,  by  the  missionary  labours  of  the  Rev.  William 
Lee.  As  to  body,  Mr.  Lee  being  little  more  than  thin  air,  or  a 


*  I  have  obtained  the  following  information  concerning  the  ancestors  of  Mr. 
Hopkins.  Toward  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  three  brothers  emigrated 
to  this  country  from  Wales, — one  of  whom  settled  in  Massachusetts,  one  in  Penn- 
sylvania, and  one  in  Virginia, — from^hom  it  is  probable  that  great  numbers  of 
the  name  of  Hopkins  in  this  country  have  sprung.  Of  the  twenty-two  children  of 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Hopkins,  I  believe  only  three  are  now  alive.  The  oldest  of  these,  a 
most  worthy  man,  lives  on  James  River,  in  Goochland.  The  two  youngest — Mr. 
George  W.  Hopkins,  of  Washington  county,  and  Henry  L.  Hopkins,  of  Powhatan — 
have  been  honoured  with  various  offices, — both  of  these  having  been,  repeatedly, 
members  of  the  Virginia  Assembly,  and  each  of  them  of  the  State  Convention ; 
both  of  them  having  been  Speakers  of  the  House  of  Delegates  ;  one  of  them  sent 
on  a  mission  to  Portugal,  and  now  Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court,  and  the  other  a 
member  of  the  Council  and  Commonwealth's  Attorney. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  461 

light  feather,  as  he  galloped  over  these  counties,  his  horse  felt  not 
the  rider  on  his  back ;  but  the  people  felt  the  weight  and  power 
of  a  strong  mind  and  will,  and  the  pressure  of  a  heart  and  soul 
devoted  to  the  love  of  God  and  man.  He  laid  the  foundation 
anew  of  the  churches  in  Goochland,  Powhatan,  Amelia,  and 
Chesterfield,  and,  like  another  Allen,  lived  to  see  them  all  sup- 
plied by  ministers.  His  physical  power  being  incompetent  to 
these  itinerant  labours,  he  took  charge  of  the  Church  of  St.  John's, 
in  Richmond,  and  afterward  of  that  in  the  Valley,  now  a  mission- 
ary church.  His  health  failing  even  for  this,  he  devoted  himself 
to  the  press,  and  was  the  first  editor  of  the  Southern  Churchman, 
establishing  it  in  Richmond.  He  continued  to  edit  the  same  until 
his  part  of  the  work  was  performed,  when  lying  on  a  sick-bed,  his 
proof-sheets  corrected,  his  selections  made  and  editorials  written, 
while  propped  up  with  bolsters  and  pillows,  thus,  to  the  last,  spend- 
ing and  being  spent  in  his  Master's  service.  During  his  stay  in 
Richmond,  he  was  as  a  right  hand  to  Bishop  Moore,  who  not  only 
loved  him  for  his  amiable  qualities  and  zealous  piety,  but  respected 
him  for  his  good  judgment,  which  he  often  consulted. 

In  April,  1839,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Doughen  took  charge  of  the 
parish,  but  only  continued  a  short  time.  He  was  succeeded,  in 
the  same  year,  by  the  Rev.  Richard  Wilmer,  who  continued,  with 
a  short  interval,  until  the  summer  or  fall  of  1843.  In  the  year 
1844,  the  Rev.  Joseph  Wilmer  took  charge  of  it,  and  continued 
until  the  year  1849 ;  and  he  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Francis 
Whittle,  who  resigned  in  1852.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Rodman  has  re- 
cently become  its  pastor. 

The  following  list  of  vestrymen  is  copied  from  the  vestry-book, 
beginning  in  the  year  1744.  The  Christian  names  are  omitted,  for 
the  sake  of  brevity,  except  where  necessary  to  distinguish  from 
those  of  the  same  surname  : — 

Cocke,  Hopkins,  Smith,  Martin,  Burton,  Miller,  William  Randolph, 
Woods,  Tarlton  Fleming,  Holman,  Bates,  Lewis,  Peter  Jefferson,  (father 
of  the  President,)  Jordan,  Pollard,  Cole,  Pryor,  Stamps,  Thomas  Mann 
Randolph,  Woodson,  Thomas  and  John  Boiling,  Underwood,  Sampson, 
Yaughan,  Morris,  Curd,  Bryce,  Perkins,  Massie,  Pemberton,  Leake, 
Harris,  William  Boiling,  Carter,  Eldridge.  After  1826:  Ferguson, 
Pleasants,  T.  K.  Harrison,  Garland,  Vashon,  Edward  Cunningham, 
Carter  Harrison,  J.  A.  Cunningham,  Randolph  Harrison,  James  and 
William  Gait,  Weisiger,  Stillman,  Jackson,  Thomas  Boiling,  Nelson, 
Watkins,  Stanard,  Julian  Harrison,  Logan,  Turner,  Skipwith,  Morson, 
Taylor,  Selden,  Anderson. 


I 

462  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,    AND 

To  this  it  is  proper  td  add,  that  Mr.  William  Boiling,  in  the  year 
1840,  presented  a  house  and  fifty  acres  of  land  to  the  church  for 
a  parsonage.  St.  Paul's,  a  brick  church,  was  built  in  the  same 
year,  and,  being  burned  down  some  years  since,  was  rebuilt  in 
1855. 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  453 


ARTICLE  LXIII. 


« 


King  William  Parish,  or  Manakintown,  the  Huguenot  Settlement 
on  James  River. 

THIS  parish  was  originally  in  Henrico  county,  which  extended 
thus  far  and  far  beyond  it  on  either  side  of  James  River.  It  is  now  in 
Powhatan  county,  whose  name  is  taken  from  the  ancient  name  of 
the  river  and  the  old  King  Powhatan.  By  Act  of  Assembly  in  1790, 
it  was  assigned  to  the  French  refugees  who  were  driven  from  their 
country  by  the  persecutions  of  Louis  XIV.,  and  sought  an  asylum  in 
Virginia,  as  hundreds  of  thousands  did  in  all  the  various  countries 
of  Protestant  Christendom.  Before  giving  that  brief  detail  of  the 
parish  which  its  tattered  records  afford,  it  will  be  proper  to  allude 
to  the  history  of  that  most  cruel  persecution.  Though  the  Re- 
formation had  so  far  succeeded  in  France  as  to  number  one  million 
of  its  most  resolute  converts,  yet  there  were  twenty  millions  of 
bigoted  adherents  to  the  Papacy.  By  uniting  their  influence  and 
arms  with  other  Protestants  around,  the  Huguenots,  however,  had 
for  a  century  been  a  terror  to  the  monarchs  of  France  and  the 
Papal  throne.  The  bloody  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew's  eve,  in 
1572,  only  served  to  increase  their  resolution.  By  their  aid  was 
Henry  IV.  placed  upon  the  throne  of  France.  Out  of  policy  he  de- 
clared himself  a  Romanist,  though  it  was  believed  he  was  more  of 
a  Protestant  at  heart.  He  soon  determined  to  put  a  stop  to  the 
persecution  and  wars  which  had  been  carried  on,  and  while  declaring 
the  Papal  the  true  and  established  Church,  and  the  Protestant  the 
"Pretended  Reformed  Religion,"  secured  them  both  in  their  reli- 
gious privileges,  by  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  in  the  year  1685.*  This 
continued  in  force  during  the  reign  of  Louis  XIII.  and  the  minority 
of  his  son,  Louis  XIV.  On  his  accession  to  the  throne,  he  de- 
termined on  a  different  course.  The  dupe  of  Jesuits,  confessors, 


*  The  clergy  and  Parliament  opposed  the  edict  violently,  but  Henry  said,  "  I 
hare  enacted  the  edict.  I  wish  it  to  be  observed.  My  will  must  be  observed  as  the 
reason  why.  In  an  obedient  State,  reasons  are  never  demanded  of  the  prince.  I  am 
King.  I  speak  to  you  as  a  King.  I  will  be  obeyed."  The  Protestants,  also,  who 
were  dissatisfied  at  his  declaring  himself  for  the  Eomish  Church,  complained  and 
threatened ;  but  he  spoke  as  decisively  to  them. 


I 

464  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

Madame  Maintenon,  and  Cardinal  Mazarin,  he  set  about  converting 
the  Huguenots  to  the  Catholic  Church.  He  did  not  for  some  time 
repeal  the  Edict  of  Nantes  by  a  formal  decree,  but  set  it  aside  bj 
various  acts  which  rendered  it  of  no  avail.  He  declared  his  de- 
termination to  convert  all  his  subjects  to  the  true  faith  of  Rome. 
This  he  attempted  by  bribery,  using  large  sums  for  the  purpose  ;^ 
by  persecution  of  various  kinds ;  by  destroying  their  churches  and 
requiring  them  to  attend  the  Romish  worship.  Immense  numbers 
stole  away  from  the  country,  though  death  and  confiscation  were 
the  penalties.  At  length  the  formal  decree  was  passed.  The  Edict 
of  Nantes  was  revoked.  The  Protestant  clergy  must  be  converted, 
or  leave  the  kingdom  in  fifteen  days,  or  be  sent  to  work  in  the 
galleys.  Great  numbers  of  false-hearted  ones,  chiefly  of  the  laity, 
were  converted,  either  by  gold  or  the  sword, — for  dragoons  were  the 
chief  ministers  of  the  King,  therefore  converting  was  called  dra- 
gooning. It  is  computed  that  by  emigration  alone  not  less  than 
three  hundred  thousand  were  lost  to  the  country.  All  the  nations 
of  Protestant  Christendom,  and  even  Russia,  were  shocked  at  the 
scene,  and,  deeply  sympathizing  with  the  sufferers,  threw  open  their 
doors  to  receive  them,  and  vied  with  each  other  who  should  afford 
most  succour  and  most  immunities  and  privileges.  They  thus  found 
their  way  into  every  Protestant  country  of  Europe,  and  into  many 
parts  of  the  United  States,  especially  into  New  York,  Virginia, 
and  South  Carolina,  where  their  Jiames  are  to  this  day  the  names 
of  some  of  the  most  respectable  families  of  the  land.  Dearly  has 
France  and  the  Romish  Church  paid  for  the  inhuman  treatment  of 
these  brave  soldiers  of  the  cross.  Ardent  lovers  of  religious  liberty, 
they  have  been  in  every  land  the  most  strenuous  asserters  of  it ; 
and,  sound  in  the  faith,  they  have  boldly  contended  against  the  false 
docrines  of  Rome.  Trained  from  generation  to  generation  to  con- 
tend for  their  rights  on  the  battle-field,  in  gratitude  to  those  who 
have  afforded  them  an  asylum,  they  have  on  many  a  field  of  Europe 
revenged  their  own  and  their  fathers'  wrongs.  Nor  did  Louis  suc- 
ceed in  his  design  to  banish  them  from  the  land.  The  blood  of  the 
martyrs  was  again  the  seed  of  the  Church.  Some  faithful  ones 
were  kept  there  by  the  arm  of  the  Lord,  as  in  the  hollow  of  his 
hand,  who  have  increased  and  multiplied  to  this  day ;  and  it  is  be- 
lieved that  at  this  time  the  proportion  of  Protestants  in  France  to 
the  Catholics  is  as  great  as  in  the  days  of  Louis  the  persecutor. 
Then  there  was  one  million  to  twenty,  now  one  million  eight  hun- 
dred thousand  to  thirty-four  millions ;  and  the  same  policy  by  the 
Bonapartes  has  been  found  necessary  as  that  adopted  by  Henry 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  465 

IV.  In  the  providence  of  God,  who  can  bring  good  out  of  evil,  it 
has  also  come  to  pass  that  the  banished  Huguenots  have  been  bene- 
factors to  all  countries  where  they  have  gone,  by  contributing  to 
the  improvement  of  the  same,  not  only  in  religion,  but  in  all  the 
arts  and  sciences,— being  remarkable  for  their  industry,  skill,  and 
integrity.  The  very  best  of  the  old  ministers  of  Virginia 'were 
from  this  stock.  Moncure,  Latane,  the  two  Fontaines,  the  two 
Maurys,  and  others  who  might  be  mentioned,  were  among  them. 
To  these,  I  am  told,  may  be  added  one  of  recent  date,— the  pious 
William  Duvall,  of  Richmond.  If  we  extend  our  view,  and  look 
to  the  patriots  and  statesmen  of  the  Revolution,  where  shall  we  find 
better  men  than  Chief-Justice  Jay,  of  New  York,  Elias  Boudinot, 
of  New  Jersey,  the  Bayards,  Legare,  the  Laurenses,  the  Grimkys, 
Marion,  Neuvilles,  Gervais,  Rutledge? 

THE   FONTAINE   AND   MAURY   FAMILIES. 

In  connection  with  these  notices  of  the  Manakin  settlement, 
gome  account  of  the  Fontaines  and  Maurys  may  very  properly 
come  in,  not  merely  because  they  were  descendants  of  the  Hugue- 
nots, but  because  one  of  them — the  Rev.  Francis  Fontaine — was  at 
one  time  its  minister.     Whoever  would  see  a  full  and  most  inte- 
resting account  of  the  ancestors  of  these  families  must  examine 
that  deeply-touching  history  of  them,  entitled   "  The  Huguenot 
Family,"  prepared  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hawks  and  Miss  Ann  Maury, 
of  New  York.      I  can  only  briefly  refer  to  some  of  the  children 
and  grandchildren  of  those  remarkable  persons,  James  Fontaine 
and  his  wife,  who  were  so  signally  rescued  from  destruction  on  the 
coast  of  Ireland.     Their  five  sons  and  two  daughters  were  well 
educated.     John  entered  the  army,  and  came  over  to  this  country 
to  explore  it  for  his  brother.     He  returned,  and  with  Morris  re- 
mained in  England.     Peter,  Francis,  and  James  settled  in  Virginia. 
Peter  became  minister  first,  for  one  year,  at  Weynoake,  Martins 
Brandon,  and  Jamestown,  then  settled  in  Westover  parish.     Fran- 
cis lived  for  one  year  at  Manakintown,   then  settled  in  York- 
Hampton.     Their  sister,  Anne  Fontaine,  married  Strother  Maury, 
from  Gascony,  in  England.     They  came  to  Virginia,  and  settled  in 
King  William.     Their  son,  James  Maury,  was  ordained  in  1742, 
and  was  for  one  year  minister  in  King  William  county,  then  went 
to  Louisa  to  Fredericksville  parish,  which  was  afterward  added  in 
part  to  Albemarle.     He  married  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Walker,  of 
Albemarle.     He  had  numerous  sons  and  daughters,  of  whom  more 

hereafter.     His  son  Matthew  succeeded  his  father  as  minister. 

30 


9 
466  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

I  will  now  speak  more  particularly  of  those  Huguenots  who  set- 
tled in  Virginia.  As  early  as  the  year  1660  some  few  came  over, 
fleeing  from  the  earlier  persecutions.  They  were  sufficient  in 
number  to  induce  an  Act  of  the  Assembly  granting  them  the  privi- 
lege of  citizens.  Toward  the  close  of  the  century  we  read  of  some 
settling  themselves  on  the  Rappahannock.  In  the  year  1790,  so 
many  had  settled  on  the  south  side  of  James  River,  in  Henrico 
county,  (which  was  then  on  both  sides  of  the  river,)  that  the  As- 
sembly passed  an  act  giving  them  a  large  tract  of  land  along  the 
river  as  their  possession,  exempting  them  from  all  county  and 
State  taxes  for  seven  years,  and  then  extending  the  privilege  in- 
definitely. They  were  required  to  support  their  own  minister  in 
their  own  way.  Accordingly,  in  dividing  the  grant  into  farms,  all 
running  down  to  the  river  in  narrow  slips,  a  portion  of  the  most 
valuable  was  set  apart  for  the  minister,  and  continued  for  a  long 
time  to  be  in  possession  and  use  of  the  minister,  while  one  was 
resident  in  the  parish,  and  after  that  to  be  rented  out,  and  the 
proceeds  paid  for  such  occasional  services  as  were  rendered  by 
neighbouring  ministers.  At  length,  as  it  could  not  be  seized  and 
alienated  by  the  act  for  selling  the  glebes,  it  got  into  private  hands, 
and  has  been  thus  held  for  many  years.  As  service  is  now  regu- 
larly held  in  the  old  church  in  Manakintown  settlement,  it  is  be- 
lieved that  the  glebe  originally  consecrated  to  the  support  of  a 
minister  will  be  restored  to  its  first  design  and  long  use.  The 
service  of  the  Episcopal  Church  was  used,  and  sermons  preached 
for  some  time  in  both  French  and  English,  as  some  of  both  nations 
attended  the  church  at  Manakin.*  In  the  year  1714  a  list  of  the 
little  Colony  was  sent  to  England  of  men,  women,  and  children, 
amounting  to  nearly  three  hundred.  The  list  is  before  me.  The 
minister  was  the  Rev.  Jean  Caison.  In  the  year  1728  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Niern,  who  had  been  their  minister  for  a  year  or  two,  left  them 
and  took  with  him  to  London  a  letter  showing  that  there  had  never 
been  more  than  thirty  tithables  in  the  parish,  and  that  they  could 
not  support  a  minister  by  themselves.  Dr.  Hawks  speaks  of  a  body 
of  six  hundred  coming  over  with  their  minister,  Philippe  de  Riche- 
bourg,  and  settling  there.  It  may  be  that  these  are  the  same  of 
whom  we  read  as  first  settling  at  Manakin  and  then  moving  to 
South  Carolina.  I  have  the  old  register  of  baptisms,  &c.  of  this 


*  The  name  Manakin  is  derived  from  the  Indian  word  Monacan, — the  name  of  a 
warlike  tribe  of  Indians  whom  the  great  King  Powhatan  in  vain  attempted  to  sub- 
due. They  resided  on  James  River  from  the  Falls  (Richmond)  to  Manakin. 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  467 

parish,  written  in  French,  and  beginning  in  the  year  1721  and 
continuing  to  1753,  from  which  it  would  appear  that  a  Rev.  Mr. 
Fontaine  was  minister  in  1720  and  1721,  baptizing  a  child  by  the 
name  of  Morris,  establishing  that  to  be  a  Huguenot  name.  In 
the  year  1726  a  Mr.  Murdock,  minister  of  St.  James  Northam, 
Goochland,  officiated  by  baptizing  at  Manakin.  In  the  year  1727 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Brooke,  of  Hanover,  did  the  same.  In  that  same 
year  and  the  next  Mr.  Niern  was  the  minister.  In  the  year  during 
which  Mr.  Niern  went  to  England  Mr.  Massamm  was  minister.  In 
the  years  1728  and  1729  the  Revs.  Mr.  Swift  and  Deter  baptized. 
In  the  years  1731  and  1732  the  Rev.  Mr.  Marye  was  minister.  In 
the  year  1739  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gavin  baptized  in  the  parish.  From 
the  year  1750  to  1780  the  Rev.  Mr.  Douglass,  of  Goochland,  and 
other  ministers  around^  occasionally  served  it.  After  this  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Hopkins,  of  Goochland,  was  their  minister.  Since  the  revival 
of  the  Church  in  Virginia,  it  has  been  partially  supplied  by  various 
other  ministers  to  the  present  time,  when  the  Rev.  Mr.  Tizzard,  of 
Chesterfield,  is  the  pastor,  in  connection  with  the  Church  in  Ches- 
terfield. One  thing  is  worthy  of  remark  in  relation  to  the  baptisms 
in  this  parish, — -that  those  of  the  negro  children  are  far  more  in 
number  than  those  of  the  whites.  Their  names  are  regularly  regis- 
tered. This  shows  their  sense  of  duty  as  to  the  religious  dedication 
of  the  children  of  Africa.  To  the  foregoing  brief  statistics  I  can- 
not forbear  adding  the  following  extract  from  a  letter  received 
from  one  of  the  descendants  of  the  family  of  Dupuys.  She  writes : — 

"  From  notes  written  at  the  base  of  our  ancestral  tree  I  copy  the  fol- 
lowing:— '  Bartholomew  Dupuy  (my  paternal  Huguenot  ancestor)  in  1650 
or  1653.  At  eighteen  years  of  age  he  entered  the  army,  where  his  in- 
telligence and  fidelity  soon  won  him  the  confidence  of  the  King,  Louis 
XIV.,  who  promoted  him  at  an  early  age  to  be  an  officer  in  his  household 
guard.  He  so  far  trusted  and  honoured  him  as  often  to  select  him  to 
perform  duties  so  important  as  to  require  his  own  signature  to  some  of  the 
orders.  One  of  these  papers  was  the  means  under  God  of  saving  this 
officer  and  his  wife  from  arrest  and  most  probably  from  death.  But  a 
short  time  before  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  he  married  a 
Countess  (Susannah  Lavillon)  and  retired  "to  his  villa  for  a  short  respite 
from  his  military  duties.  Very  soon  after  his  retirement,  they  were  called 
on  by  one  of  the  King's  messengers,  who  communicated  the  startling  in- 
telligence that  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  was  to  take  immediate 
effect,  and  that  he  had  been  sent  by  the  King  from  motives  of  esteem  to 
save  him  and  his  wife  from  the  impending  fate  of  all  heretics.  He  urged 
their  submission  (that  is,  their  renunciation  of  the  Protestant  faith)  with 
all  his  eloquence,  and  with  all  his  promises  of  great  benefits  from  the  King 
if  they  would  show  them  fidelity  by  obeying  their  orders.  Dupuy  replied 
that  the  demand  was  so  sudden  and  important  that  he  would  beg  a  few 


J 

468  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

hours  for  consideration.  Tfee  priest  said  that  this  request  was  reasonable, 
and  he  would  grant  it  cheerfully.  As  soon  as  he  had  retired,  Dupuy  sent 
for  the  village  tailor,  and  asked  whether  he  could  have  a  suit  of  livery 
made  for  his  page  in  six  hours.  He  replied  in  the  affirmative,  and  at 
midnight  they  were  completed  and  delivered.  In  this  suit  he  immediately 
disguised  his  wife  as  his  page,  and  putting  on  his  best  uniform,  and  gird- 
ing on  his  sword,  took  what  money  and  jewels  they  had,  together  with  a 
few  clothes  and  their  Bibles  and  Psalm-Books,  and,  mounting  two  good 
horses,  set  out  for  the  frontier  of  the  kingdom.  They  travelled  either  four- 
teen or  eighteen  days,  and,  though  stopped  almost  daily,  always  escaped 
by  saying  that  he  was  the  King's  officer,  until  near  the  line,  when  he  was 
arrested.  He  showed  the  officer  the  paper  with  the  King's  signature;  and, 
immediately  snatching  it  back,  he  drew  his  sword  and  fiercely  asked  by 
what  authority  he  was  thus  insulted,  and  demanding  an  escort  for  his  pro- 
tection to  the  line,  which  was  immediately  granted.  On  their  safe  ar- 
rival the  guard  was  dismissed,  and,  crossing  over  into  Germany,  they  there 
sang  the  praises  of  God  in  the  fortieth  Psalm,  and  offered  up  prayers  and 
thanksgivings  to  their  great  Deliverer  for  their  escape  from  a  cruel  death. 
They  remained  in  Germany  fourteen  years,  then  stayed  two  years  in  Eng- 
land, from  whence  they  came  to  America  in  the  year  1700,  and  settled  at 
Manakintown,  on  James  Kiver,  in  King  William  parish.  The  sword 
used  by  Bartholomew  Dupuy  while  in  France  is  now  in  possession  of  Dr. 
John  James  Dupuy,  of  Prince  George,  and  was  used  by  his  grandfather, 
James  Dupuy,  Sr.,  of  Nottoway,  at  the  battle  of  Guilford,  where  he  sig- 
nalized himself.7 ;' 

From  the  family  of  Dupuys  I  have  gotten  the  old  church  register, 
which,  though  rotten  and  torn  and  in  fragments,  has  been  kept 
so  as  to  enable  me  to  obtain  the  statistics  given  in  this  article. 
The  foregoing  account  of  the  escape  of  Bartholomew  Dupuy  and 
his  wife  is  a  true  picture  of  the  methods  resorted  to  by  the  per- 
secuted Huguenots  to  fly  from  the  kingdom.  Nothing  now  remains 
but  that  I  mention  the  names  of  those  families  still  remaining  in 
Virginia  who  derive  their  descent  from  the  Huguenots.  From 
information  coming  through  books  and  individuals  they  are  as 
follows: — Marye,  Fontaine,  Dupuy,  Harris,  Sublett,  Watkins, 
Markam,  Sully,  Chasteen,  Duvall,  Bondurant,  Flournoj,  Potter, 
Michaux,  Pemberton,  Munford,  Hatcher,  Jaqueline,  Bernard, 
Barraud,  Latane,  Moncure,  Agie,  Amouet,  Chadouin,  Dibrell, 
Farrar,  Fuqua,  Jeter,  Jordan,  Jouette,  Le  Grand,  Ligon,  Maupin, 
Maxey,  Pasteur,  Perrou,  Thweatt,  Maury,  Boisseau,  Fouche,  Lanier, 
Le  Neve.  Concerning  a  few  of  these  it  may  be  questioned  whether 
they  be  not  of  Welsh  descent,  while  there  are  doubtless  others  who 
might  be  added. 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  469 


ARTICLE  XLIV. 

Parishes  in  Dinwiddie  and  Brunswick  Counties.— Bath  Parish. 

THIS  parish  was  established  in  1742,  being  cut  off  from  Bristol 
parish.  Its  dividing-line,  however,  was  changed  in  1744,  so  as  to 
enlarge  Bristol  parish.  Dinwiddie  county  was  taken  from  Prince 
George  in  1752.  A  part  of  Bristol  parish— that  in  which  Peters- 
burg lies — is  still  in  Dinwiddie.  The  first  minister  of  whom  we 
have  any  account  was  a  Mr.  Pow,  once  a  chaplain  of  his  Majesty's 
ship  Triton,  who  was  succeeded  in  1755  by  the  Rev.  James  Pasteur, 
who  was  also  the  minister  in  1756 ;  whether  after  this,  and  how 
long,  is  unknown.  In  1763  the  Rev.  Devereux  Jarratt,  who  had 
been  ordained  in  London  on  Christmas-day  the  preceding  year, 
became  minister  of  the  parish.  In  his  autobiography  he  says, — 

"  Several  ministers  have  been  my  predecessors  in  the  parish.  From 
them,"  he  says,  "  I  suppose  they  had  heard  little  else  but  morality  and 
smooth  harangues,  in  no  wise  calculated  to  disturb  their  carnal  repose,  or 
to  awaken  any  one  to  a  sense  of  guilt  and  danger.  .  .  .  My  doctrine  was 
strange  and  wonderful  to  them,  and  their  language  one  to  another  was  to 
this  effect : — *  We  have  had  many  ministers,  and  have  heard  many  before 
this  man,  but  we  never  heard  any  thing  till  now  of  conversion,  the  new 
birth,  &c.  We  never  heard  any  of  our  ministers  say  any  thing  against 
civil  mirth,  such  as  dancing,  &c. ;  nay,  they  rather  encouraged  the  people 
in  them, — for  we  have  seen  Parson  such  an  one,  and  Parson  such  another, 
at  these  mirthful  places,  as  merry  as  any  of  the  company.  This  new  man 
of  ours  brings  strange  things  to  our  ears.'  ...  At  this  time,"  he  says, 
"I  stood  alone,  not  knowing  of  one  clergyman  in  Virginia  like-minded 
with  myself." 

It  is  to  be  feared  that  about  this  time,  and  some  years  before,  a 
number  of  the  clergy  of  Virginia  were  not  only  wanting  in  serious- 
ness, but  were  immoral  and  ignorant.  A  pious  member  of  the 
Church,  from  somewhere  in  this  region,  I  believe,  writes  to  the 
Bishop  of  London  of  the  gross  ignorance  of  four  clergymen,  men- 
tioning, them  by  name,  and  the  immorality  of  one  of  them,  com- 
paring them  with  the  learning  and  piety  of  two  Presbyterian 
ministers  who  had  just  come  into  the  State,  and  prophesying  the 
result  of  these  things  unless  arrested.  He,  however,  adds  that 
there  were  some  of  a  different  character.  With  one  of  these  Mr. 
Jarratt  himself  soon  became  acquainted. 


-  J 

470  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

As  Mr.  Jarratt  was  tlie  minister  of  this  parish  from  this  time 
(1763)  to  the  time  of  his  death  in  the  year  1801,— thirty-eight  years, 
— and  was  a  man  of  no  ordinary  character,  it  is  proper  that  we  give 
some  sketch  of  him.  The  only  difficulty  in  doing  this  will  be  the 
selecting,  from  the  materials  furnished  by  himself  and  the  Kev.  Mr. 
Coleman,  to  whom  he  addressed  his  autobiographical  letters,  the 
most  important,  so  as  not  to  exceed  the  bounds  prescribed  by  the 
character  of  this  work.  Devereux  Jarratt — so  called,  as  to  his  Chris- 
tian name,  from  Robert  Devereux,  Earl  of  Essex,  in  whose  army 
his  grandfather  served — was  born  in  New  Kent  county,  Virginia, 
January  6,  1732-3.  His  father,  like  the  reputed  father  of  our 
Emmanuel,  was  a  carpenter.  "We  were  accustomed,"  he  says, 
"to  look  upon  what  were  called  gentlefolks  as  being  of  a  superior 
order.  My  parents  neither  sought  nor  expected  any  titles  or  great 
things  either  for  themselves  or  their  children.  Their  highest  ambi- 
tion was  to  teach  their  children  to  read  and  write  and  to  understand 
the  fundamental  rules  of  arithmetic.  They  also  taught  us  short 
prayers,  and  made  us  very  perfect  in  repeating  the  Church  cate- 
chism." When  he  was  seven  years  of  age  his  father  died,  and  he 
was  left  to  the  care  of  his  elder  brother  Robert,  who  inherited  all 
the  landed  estate,  as  there  was  no  will.  The  share  of  the  other 
children  was  twenty-five  pounds  current  Virginia  money.  At  an 
early  age  Devereux  discovered  a  turn  for  books,  and  was  sent  to  a 
plain  school.  But,  when  not  at  school,  his  time  was  spent  in 
keeping  race-horses,  taking  care  of  game-cocks,  and  working  on 
the  farm.  He  seldom  went  to  church,  where  he  says  old  Mr.  Mos- 
som  preached  "wholly  from  a  written  sermon,  keeping  his  eyes 
continually  fixed  on  the  paper,  and  so  near  that  what  he  said 
seemed  rather  addressed  to  the  cushion  than  to  the  congregation." 
At  the  age  of  nineteen,  after  spending  some  time  in  learning  the 
trade  of  a  carpenter,  and  disliking  it,  he  determined  to  become  a 
teacher  of  what  he  did  know.  Hearing  of  a  place  in  Albemarle — 
now  Fluvanna — at  a  Mr.  Moon's,  he  set  out, — his  all,  excepting  only 
one  shirt,  being  on  his  back,  and  that  which  was  in  his  hand  was 
lost  soon  after.  In  Albemarle  there  was  no  minister  of  any  persua- 
sion,— the  Sabbath  being  spent  in  sporting.  His  salary  was  nine 
pound  and  seven  shillings.  Being  sickly  on  that  part  of  James  River 
where  he  lived, — near  Bremo  Creek, — he  changed  his  place  of 
labour,  and  got  still  less  the  second  year.  The  third  year  he  lived 
with  a  Mr.  Kennon,  whose  wife  was  a  pious  woman  and  greatly 
promoted  his  spiritual  welfare.  His  reading  and  intercourse  with 
Mrs.  Kennon  strongly  inclined  him  to  the  Presbyterian  Church, 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  471 

which  was  then  gaining  ground  in  those  parts.  After  some  back- 
Blidings,  and  many  doubts  and  misgivings,  and  some  severe  contests 
with  the  evil  one,  he  determined  on  the  ministry.  Having  mean- 
while examined  some  excellent  Episcopal  writers,  and  considered 
well  the  question  of  Churches,  he  resolved  to  take  Orders  in  the 
Established  Church.  Having  improved  himself  much  in  literature, 
especially  in  the  languages,  during  his  engagements  as  a  teacher, 
and  having  obtained  commendatory  papers,  and  a  title  to  some 
parish,  in  October,  1762,  he  sailed  for  England  to  obtain  Orders. 
There  he  was  detained  until  the  spring, — not  being  able  to  obtain 
Orders  at  once, — and  being  attacked  by  the  smallpox.  During 
this  time  he  placed  all  his  money  in  the  hands  of  the  friend  with 
whom  he  stayed,  who  spent  it.  Other  and  better  friends  being 
raised  up  by  Providence,  he  was  supplied  with  the  means  of  re- 
turning to  Virginia.  In  that  year  he  entered  upon  the  duties  of 
the  ministry  in  Bath  parish.  There  were  three  churches  in  it, — 
Saponey,  Hatcher's  Eun,  and  Butterwood, — to  whose  congregations 
he  devoted  himself.  Of  his  preaching  he  speaks  thus  : — 

"Instead  of  moral  harangues,  and  advising  my  hearers,  in  a  cool,  dis- 
passionate manner,  to  walk  in  the  primrose  paths  of  a  decided,  sublime, 
and  elevated  virtue,  and  not  to  tread  the  foul  track  of  disgraceful  vice, 
[the  language  of  the  pulpit  in  that  day,]  I  endeavoured  to  enforce,  in  the 
most  alarming  colours,  the  guilt  of  sin,  the  entire  depravity  of  human 
nature,  the  awful  danger  mankind  are  in  by  nature  and  practice,  the  tre- 
mendous curse  to  which  they  are  obnoxious,  and  their  utter  inability  to 
evade  the  sentence  of  the  law  and  the  strokes  of  divine  justice  by  their 
own  power,  merit,  or  good  works.  A  religious  concern  took  place,  and 
that  great  question,  'What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?'  was  more  and  more 
common,  especially  among  the  middle  ranks.  Not  that  I  supposed  none 
of  the  poorer  sort  were  convinced  of  sin  and  truly  concerned  for  their 
souls,  but  they  did  not  make  me  acquainted  with  it,  because,  at  that  time, 
people  in  the  lower  walks  of  life  had  not  been  accustomed  to  converse  with 
clergymen,  whom  they  supposed  to  stand  in  the  rank  of  gentlemen  and 
above  the  company  and  conversation  of  plebeians.  ...  As  soon  as  I 
discovered  a  religious  concern  in  my  parish,  I  no  longer  confined  my  la- 
bours to  the  pulpit  on  Sundays,  but  went  out  by  night  and  by  day,  and  at 
any  time  in  the  week,  to  private  houses,  and  convened  as  many  as  I  could 
for  the  purpose  of  prayer,  singing,  preaching,  and  conversation.  The 
religious  concern  among  the  people  of  Bath  soon  enlarged  the  bounds  of 
my  preaching.  The  sound  of  it  quickly  reached  to  the  neighbouring 
parishes,  and  thence  to  the  counties  and  parishes  at  a  greater  distance. 
This  moved  many  scores  from  other  parishes  to  come  and  see  for  them- 
selves. Butterwood  Church  soon  became  too  small  to  hold  one-half  the 
congregation.  One  large  wing,  and  then  another,  were  added  to  it,  but 
yet  room  was  wanting.  I  was  now  earnestly  solicited  by  one  and  another 
from  a  distance  to  come  over  and  help  them.  Thus  commenced  the  en- 


472  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

largeinent  of  my  bounds  of  jfreaching,  which,  in  process  of  time,  extended 
to  a  circle  of  five  or  six  hundred  miles,  east,  west,  north,  south." 

During  his  years  of  travelling,  when  he  visited  twenty-nine 
counties  in  North  Carolina  and  Virginia,  he  regularly  attended  the 
three  churches  in  his  own  parish  on  Sundays,  devoting  the  days 
of  the  week  to  itinerant  labours,  except  on  occasions  when  his 
visits  were  very  distant.  The  journal  of  his  labours  shows  that  for 
some  years  he  averaged  five  sermons  a  week.  He  was,  of  course, 
very  obnoxious  to  many  of  the  clergy.  One  of  them  charged  him 
with  violating  an  old  English  canon  by  preaching  in  private  houses. 
To  this  he  replied  that  no  clergyman  refused  to  preach  a  funeral 
sermon  in  a  private  house  for  forty  shillings,  and  he  preached  for 
nothing.  Moreover,  that  many  of  the  brethren  transgressed  the 
75th  canon,  which  forbids  cards,  dice,  tables,  &c.  to  the  clergy, 
and  yet  were  not  punished.  Some  complained  of  his  encouraging 
pious  laymen  to  pray  in  his  presence,  which  he  answered  by  re- 
minding them  how  often  they  permitted  ungodly  laymen  to  swear 
in  their  presence,  without  even  a  rebuke.  Mr.  Jarratt  adduces  in 
proof  of  the  low  state  of  religion  the  small  number  of  communi- 
cants,— none  but  a  few  of  the  more  aged — perhaps  seven  or  eight 
at  a  church — attending.  The  rest  thought  nothing  about  it,  or  else 
considered  it  a  dangerous  thing  to  meddle  with.  The  first  time  he 
administered  it  there  was  only  that  number.  About  ten  years  after 
he  entered  the  ministry,  there  were,  at  his  three  churches,  including 
a  number  who  came  from  other  parishes,  about  nine  hundred  or 
one  thousand,  although  he  endeavoured  faithfully  to  guard  the  table 
against  unworthy  receivers.  For  many  years  this  happy  state  of 
things  continued ;  but,  after  a  time,  a  melancholy  change  appeared. 
During  the  war,  the  clergy,  deprived  of  their  salaries,  had  in  great 
numbers  deserted  their  parishes.  Dissenters  were  multiplying 
through  the  State.  An  irresistible  tide  was  sweeping  away  the 
Episcopal  Church.  What  could  the  single  arm  of  Mr.  Jarratt  do 
to  avert  its  ruin  ?  The  Baptists  made  the  first  inroads  on  his  flock. 
The  Methodists  came  on  soon  after,  and  Mr.  Jarratt  availed  him- 
self of  their  aid  to  oppose  the  former.  They  professed  to  be,  and 
doubtless  at  the  first  in  sincerity,  the  true  friends  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  who  only  desired  its  reformation ;  but,  when  increased  in 
numbers,  they  established  a  separate  and  rival  communion.  Mr. 
Jarratt  encouraged  their  private  meetings,  and,  not  deeming  it 
right  or  canonical  to  throw  open  his  churches  to  their  lay  preachers, 
tendered  his  own  barn  to  their  use,  and  was  present  at  some  of 


FAMILIES   OP   VIRGINIA.  473 

their  meetings.     The  issue  of  this  is  well  known.     His  own  services 
were  after  a  time  deserted  for  the  more  popular  modes  of  the  Me- 
thodists.    But  the  same  result  occurred  throughout  the  State,  only 
that  those  who  adopted  a  different  mode,  and  made  violent  oppo- 
sition to  them,  were   the  sooner   deserted.     The  fact  is,  that  a 
thousand  circumstances  contributed  to  render  the  downfall  of  the 
Church  at  that  time  inevitable.     Had  there  been  such  men  as  Jar- 
ratt  from  the  first,  it  would  not  have  been.     Had  there  been  a 
hundred  such  men  as  Jarratt  in  the  Church  of  Virginia  at  that 
time,  numbers  would  have  remained  in  it,  who  would  have  made 
the  Episcopal  Church  at  this  day  the  largest,  instead  of  the  smallest, 
of  the  Churches  of  Virginia.     Mr.  Jarratt,  though  thus  deserted 
and  discouraged,  continued  steadfast,  predicting,  even  to  the  last, 
the  resuscitation  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  believing  that  it  had  the 
Divine  favour,  and  the  redeeming  principle  in  it.     In  his  letter  to 
his  old  friend  Mr.  McRoberts,  who  was  like-minded  with  himself 
for  many  years,  and  with  whom  he  had  taken  sweet  counsel,  but 
who  at  length  abandoned  our  ministry  and  sought  to  establish  a 
Church  in  Virginia  on  the  Independent  plan,  he  writes  like  a  true 
descendant  of  the  English  Reformers  as  to  the  doctrines  and  policy 
of  the  Church,  assuming,  as  to  the  latter,  the  ground  taken  in  our 
Articles  and  Ordination   Services,  affirming  its  apostolic  origin, 
though  not  denouncing  others  as  destitute  of  authority.    Mr.  Jarratt, 
though  looked  upon  with  an  evil  eye,  as  he  says,  by  the  old  clergy, 
and  having  little  intercourse  with  them,  still  attended  some  of  their 
Conventions.     At  one,  in  1774,  held  in  Williamsburg,  he  says  that 
he  was  treated  so  unkindly,  and  heard  the  true  doctrines  of  Chris- 
tianity so  ridiculed,  that  he  determined  to  attend  no  more  of  them. 
In  the  year  1785,  however,  he  attended  one  in  Richmond,  which 
was  called  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  a  Diocesan  Church  and 
adopting  canons ;  but  he  was  again  so  coldly  treated,  that,  after 
remaining  a  few  hours,  he  returned  home.     In  the  year  1790,  the 
Convention  which  elected  Bishop  Madison  was  called,  and  he,  being 
present,  was  better  received.     On  the  following  year  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  preach  the  opening  sermon  at  the  Convention  of  1792. 
That  noble  sermon  stands  first  in  his  volume  of  sermons.     On  his 
return  home  he  stopped  in  Petersburg,  where  Bishop  Madison  had 
appointed  an  ordination.     Mr.  Jarratt,  being  requested  to  take 
part  in  the  examination,  refused  two  of  them  as  unfit  for  the  office. 
«  But  what  did  that  avail  ?"  he  says :  «  another  clergyman  was  called 
in,  and  I  had  the  mortification  to  hear  both  of  them  ordained  the 
same  day.     I  say  hear,  for  it  was  a  sight  I  did  not  wish  to  see." 


474  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  AND 

The  explanation  of  this  was  as  follows  : — Mr.  Jarratt  took  his  place 
in  a  pew  on  one  side  of  the  pulpit,  in  a  corner,  where  he  sat  with 
a  handkerchief  over  his  head.  The  excuse  which  Bishop  Madison 
offers  for  ordaining  one  or  more  of  them,  whom  he  admitted  to  be 
unworthy,  was  the  same  which  Governors  and  Commissaries  formerly 
did  for  not  disgracing  such, — viz. :  that  "  ministers  were  so  scarce, 
we  must  not  be  too  strict."  The  Convention  of  1792  was  the  last 
Mr.  Jarratt  attended.  In  the  year  1795,  he  says,  "I  have  now 
lived  in  the  world  just  sixty-two  years."  Infirmities  of  body  were 
now  coming  over  him.  The  use  of  one  eye  had  long  been  lost  to  him. 
A  tumour  on  his  face,  which  ultimately  proved  to  be  a  cancer,  began 
to  make  its  appearance.  Notwithstanding  this,  he  says,  "old  and 
afflicted  as  I  am,  I  travelled  more  than  one  hundred  miles  last 
week,  was  at  three  funerals,  and  married  two  couples.  Within  less 
than  three  months,  I  think,  I  wrote  about  nine  hundred  pages  in 
quarto.  Part  of  them  I  copied  for  the  press  ;  part  I  extracted  and 
abridged ;  part  I  composed  in  prose  and  poetry.  But  now  it  is 
probable  I  have  wellnigh  finished  my  work."  Still,  he  went  on 
with  his  public  duties.  "I  wish,"  he  says,  "to  go  to  church  every 
Sunday  at  least,  and  join  in  her  most  excellent  system  of  public 
worship, — a  system  to  which  I  am  particularly  attached,  because  it 
is  noble,  beautiful,  and  complete  in  all  its  parts,  and,  in  my  judg- 
ment, well  calculated  to  answer  the  end  designed.  And  will  such  a 
system  ever  be  permitted  to  fall  to  the  ground  ?  I  fondly  hope  it  will 
not;  though,  alas !  the  prospect  here  in  Virginia  is  gloomy  enough. 
Churches  are  little  attended, — in  most  places  (I  judge  from  report) 
not  more  than  a  dozen,  one  Sunday  with  another ;  and  sometimes 
half  that  number.  By  a  letter  from  a  Presbyterian  minister,  I  learn 
that  religion  is  at  a  low  ebb  among  them.  The  Baptists,  I  suppose, 
are  equally  declining.  I  seldom  hear  any  thing  about  them.  The 
Methodists  are  splitting  and  falling  to  pieces."  As  to  himself,  he- 
says,  "  I  have  yet  tolerable  congregations,  but  the  people  have  sat 
under  the  sound  of  it  so  long,  that  they  appear  gospel-hardened." 
He  speaks  of  the  condition  of  a  minister  in  Virginia  as  most  discou- 
raging. He  was  labouring  without  any  compensation ;  and  yet,  he 
says,  "it  is  pretended  that  I  have  an  itching  palm."  This  he 
disproves  by  declaring  that  from  1776  to  1785  he  received  not  one 
farthing,  and  that  after  the  Church  was  organized  in  Virginia,  and 
a  subscription  was  set  on  foot  in  his  parish,  he  only  received  about 
thirty  or  forty  shillings  the  first  year,  and  nothing  since. 

To  this  brief  sketch,  taken  from  his  own  letters  to  Mr.  Coleman, 
I  only  add  the  following  remarks  by  the  editor : — 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  475 

"  Mr.  Jarratt  meddled  very  little  with  politics.  He  had  enough  to  do 
to  attend  to  the  duties  of  his  profession.  He  considered  himself  ar.  am- 
bassador of  Christ.  His  business  was  to  call  sinners  to  repentance,  and  to 
teach  mankind  the  way  of  salvation  without  regard  to  parties  or  opinions. 
Had  he  been  asked  what  countryman  he  was,  in  the  spirit  of  universal 
philanthropy  he  might  have  answered,  like  Socrates,  <I  am  a  citizen  of 
the  world;'  but  when  the  rights  of  his  country  were  invaded,  or  her 
interests  endangered,  the  amor  patriee  which  dwelt  in  his  bosom  would 
not  permit  him  to  be  an  unconcerned  looker-on.  Many  circumstances 
took  place  during  the  Revolution,  and  all  well  known  in  Virginia,  which 
unite  to  evince  his  attachment  to  the  interests  of  America.  When  the 
Governor  of  Virginia  (Lord  Dunmore)  left  the  seat  of  Government,  and 
issued  a  proclamation  for  all  the  loyalists  to  join  him,  it  was  necessary  to 
guard  the  seaport-towns  from  depredations.  Many  of  his  parishioners 
and  even  his  pupils  turned  out  as  volunteers  in  defence  of  their  country, 
and  with  his  approbation.  I  remember  the  circumstances  well,  being  out 
myself  in  1776 ;  and  a  fellow-student  of  mine  (Mr.  Daniel  Eppes)  read 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  to  the  army.  During  the  contest  between 
England  and  America,  his  dress  was  generally  homespun.  By  precept 
and  example  he  encouraged  economy,  frugality,  and  industry.  I  have 
often  heard  him  recommend  these  virtues  to  his  fellow-citizens,  and  even 
to  go  patch  upon  patch  rather  than  suffer  their  just  rights  to  be  infringed." 

Mr.  Jarratt  died  on  the  29th  of  January,  1801,  in  the  sixty-ninth 
year  of  his  age  and  the  thirty-eighth  of  his  ministry.  His  excellent 
widow  survived  him  a  number  of  years.  She  was  the  daughter 
of  a  Mr.  Clayborne,  of  Dinwiddie  or  Brunswick.  They  had  no 
children.  Mrs.  Jarratt  was  one  of  the  first  and  most  liberal  contri- 
butors to  our  Theological  Seminary.  0 

Though  fifty-five  years  have  elapsed  since  the  death  of  Mr. 
Jarratt,  the  history  of  his  successors  is  brief.  With  one  exception 
all  are  now  living,  and  therefore  my  pen  is  hindered.  The  Rev. 
Wright  Tucker,  like-minded  with  Mr.  Jarratt,  succeeded  him. 
In  the  year  1805,  he  is  in  the  Convention  at  Richmond.  There 
had  been  no  Conventions,  or  else  no  journals  of  them,  since  1795. 
Another  interval  of  seven  years  elapsed  without  Conventions.  Mr. 
Tucker  was  not  at  the  Convention  of  1812,  but  appeared  in  1813. 
How  long  he  lived  and  ministered  after  this  is  not  known  to  the 
writer.  His  name  is  not  on  the  journals  afterward, 
known  that  there  were  any  regular  ministrations  there,  until  the 
year  1827,  when  the  Rev.  John  Grammar— a  son  of  the  two  props 
to  the  church  in  Petersburg,  already  mentioned,  one  of  whom  was 
an  old  parishioner  of  Mr.  Jarratt-took  charge  of  the  parish,  m 
connection  with  that  of  St.  Andrew's  in  Brunswick, 
time  of  his  settlement  to  the  present,  there  have  been  six  ministers 
besides  himself -the  Rev.  Thos.  Castleman,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Massie, 
the  Rev  Mr.  Banister,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Webb,  and  the  Rev.  Thomas 


476  OLD    CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,   AND 

Ambler.  A  new  brick  clfurch  has  been  built  at  the  court-house 
Old  Saponey  still  stands,  and  is  the  only  one  of  the  three  in  which 
Mr.  Jarratt  officiated  that  has  any  existence  so  far  as  we  know 
and  believe.  No  bishop  or  other  minister  can  enter  that  plain  but 
venerable  building  without  associations  of  the  most  sacred  character. 
Although  only  a  very  few  now  live  who  remember  to  have  seen  old 
Father  Jarratt,  even  in  their  early  years,  yet  his  name  and  memory 
have  been  handed  down  from  generation  to  generation  with  the 
highest  respect,  and  not  only  the  Old  Saponey,  but  the  Episcopal 
Church  itself  in  that  region,  used  to  be  known  and  called  by  some 
of  the  inhabitants  "  Old  Father  Jarratt 's  Church." 

As  to  the  families  which  once  dwelt  around  that  spot  and  wor- 
shipped in  that  house,  where  are  they  ?  One  at  least  remains  to 
remind  us  of  former  days.  Hard  by  the  old  church  still  lives  the 
aged  widow  of  Mr.  Thomas  Withers,  the  friend  of  Mr.  Jarratt,  the 
prop  of  Old  Saponey  in  many  ways.  To  the  old  mansion,  as  by 
instinct,  the  clergy  always  repair,  when  the  service  is  over,  and 
love  to  ask  and  hear  of  former  days  and  of  Father  Jarratt.  The 
descendants  and  relatives  of  old  Mr.  Withers  and  his  still  surviving 
widow  are  numerous,  and  many  of  them  active  members  of  the 
Church,  and  one  of  them  in  the  ministry :  but  where  are  they  ? 
Old  Saponey  knows  them  no  more. 

BRUNSWICK   COUNTY   AND    ST.  ANDREW'S    PARISH. 

The  county  of  BrunswicK  and  parish  of  St.  Andrew's  were  esta- 
blished in  1720,  being  cut  off  from  the  counties  of  Isle  of  Wight  and 
Surrey  and  the  parishes  of  the  same,  by  Act  of  Assembly.  Being  a 
frontier-county,  arms  and  ammunition  were  assigned  to  the  settlers, 
taxes  remitted  for  ten  years,  and  five  hundred  pounds  given  to  Na- 
thaniel Harrison,  Jonathan  Allen,  Henry  Harrison,  and  William 
Edwards,  to  be  by  them  laid  out  in  building  a  church,  court-house, 
prison,  j,illory  and  stocks,  where  they  shall  think  fit.  Twelve  years 
after  this,  in  the  year  1732,  other  portions  of  the  Isle  of  Wight  and 
Surrey  were  added  to  Brunswick.  Having  had  access  to  the  vestry- 
book  of  this  parish,  which  commences  in  the  year  1782,  when  the 
county  and  parish  were  then  completed,  we  are  able  to  give  a 
more  accurate  account  of  the  church  and  its  ministers  than  of  some 
others.  It  is  evident  that  there  had  been  previous  vestries,  and 
that  the  church  ordered  by  the  Assembly  had  been  built,  (where 
is  not  known,)  and  there  may  have  been  a  minister  or  ministers 
before  the  commencement  of  this  vestry-book.  But  in  1733  the 
vestry  met  and  chose  the  Rev.  Mr.  Beatty,  at  the  recommendation 


FAMILIES   OP  VIRGINIA.  477 

of  the  Governor.  He  was  to  preach  at  the  church  already  built, 
and  some  place  on  Meherrin,  where  a  chapel  was  to  be  built.  At 
a  meeting  in  1734,  two  chapels,  instead  of  one,  were  ordered,  and 
the  places  selected,  but  objection,  it  is  supposed,  being  made,  and 
complaints  sent  to  the  Governor  and  Council,  that  body  gave  direc- 
tions where  they  were  to  be  placed.  The  one  was  to  be  on  Me- 
herrin, and  called  Meherrin  Church,  and  the  other  on  or  near 
Roanoke,  to  be  called  Roanoke  Church,  the  old  church  to  be  called 
the  Mother-Church.  In  the  year  1739,  another  church  is  deter- 
mined on,  and  in  1742,  mention  is  made  of  the  new  church.  In 
1744,  it  is  resolved  to  build  a  church  on  the  south  side  of  Roanoke. 
In  1746,  it  is  resolved  to  build  a  church  on  the  south  side  of 
Meherrin.  In  the  year  1750,  mention  is  made  of  Duke's  Chapel, 
and  Rattlesnake  Chapel.  These,  we  presume,  were  additional  to 
the  two  on  either  side  of  Meherrin,  and  the  two  on  either  side  of 
Roanoke,  and  the  Mother-Church, — being  seven  in  all.  As  to  their 
location  I  can  form  no  conjecture.  The  problem  must  be  solved 
by  the  citizens  of  Brunswick  and  Greensville,  the  latter  county, 
with  one  or  more  of  the  churches,  having  been  cut  off  from  the 
former  at  a  later  period.  In  the  year  1750,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Beatty 
disappears  from  the  record,  having  served  the  parish  seventeen 
years.  In  the  same  year  the  Rev.  George  Purdie  is  elected 
minister  for  six  months.  At  the  end  of  the  year  the  Rev.  William 
Pow, — the  same  no  doubt  who  was  soon  after  the  minister  in  Bath 
parish, — being  recommended  by  the  Hon.  Lewis  Burwell,  President, 
and  the  Commissary,  is  chosen.  In  six  months  after,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Purdie  is  again  the  minister,  though  with  the  remonstrance 
of  four  of  the  vestry.  In  November,  1752,  the  name  of  another 
chapel — Reedy  Creek — appears,  and  in  the  year  1754  another  by 
the  name  of  Kittle  Stick.  At  the  same  date  the  Rev.  Mr.  Purdie  is 
allowed  to  preach  once  in  three  months  at  Red  Oak  School-House, — 
probably  the  place  where  Red  Oak  Church  afterward  stood. 

At  a  vestry-meeting  in  1755  the  following  entry  is  found : — 

"  The  vestry,  being  of  opinion  that  the  Rev.  George  Purdie  has  for  some 
time  past  neglected  his  duty,  and  behaved  himself  in  a  manner  which  is 
a  scandal  to  a  person  of  his  function,  do  order  and  direct  Drury  Stith, 
Edward  Goodrich,  and  Littleton  Tazwell,  or  any  two  of  them,  to  wait  on 
the  Commissary  and  acquaint  him  as  soon  as  possible  with  the  behaviour 
and  conduct  of  said  Purdie  for  some  time  past,  and  request  him  to  make 
use  of  his  authority  in  silencing  him,  (if  any  such  he  hath,)  and  if  not, 
that  he  will  join  with  us  in  a  remonstrance  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  or 
such  other  person  or  persons  as  he  shall  advise,  to  have  the  said  Purdie 
removed  from  the  parish." 


478  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

Under  the  same  date  w^  find  mention  of  the  Old  Court-House 
Church,  and  an  order  that  the  Surveyor  of  the  county  make  a 
plan  of  it,  as  it  will  be  necessary  to  build  three  other  chapels. 

In  the  year  1757,  we  find  the  case  of  Mr.  Purdie  before  the 
vestry,  the  Commissary  having  ordered  a  trial.  The  witnesses 
appear,  when  Mr.  Purdie  acknowledges  guilt  and  resigns  his 
charge,  but  the  vestry  agree  to  try  him  for  one  year  more.  At 
the  end  of  that  time,  one  month's  trial  was  allowed  him.  They 
are  not  relieved  from  him  until  April,  1760.  His  case  is  mentioned 
in  other  documents  which  I  have.  The  Rev.  Patrick  Lunan  and 
the  Rev.  Gronon  Owen  next  present  themselves  as  candidates,  and 
are  both  admitted  on  trial  for  one  year,  the  salary  to  be  equally 
divided  between  them.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Lunan  was  doubtless  the 
one  who  gave  such'  trouble  to  the  parish  in  Suffolk  soon  after  this. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Owen  had  been  recommended  by  the  Governor,  but 
the  recommendation  did  not  come  until  the  application  of  Mr. 
Lunan  had  been  made.  Therefore  they  were  both  put  on  trial, 
but  at  the  end  of  the  year  neither  was  chosen.  Governor  Fauquier 
then  presented  Mr.  Owen,  who  was  accepted.  There  was  probably 
some  understanding  between  the  vestry  and  Governor  to  this  effect, 
or  else  the  Governor,  being  an  authoritative  man,  insisted  upon  his 
right  of  presentation  and  induction, — a  thing  seldom  done  by  any 
of  his  predecessors.  Mr.  Owen  continued  to  be  the  minister  until 
1769,  and  died  there.  We  should  have  had  no  knowledge  what- 
ever of  Mr.  Owen  but  for  a  recent  communication  from  a  literary 
society  in  London,  from  which  it  appears  that  he  was  a  man  of 
talents  and  worth.  The  communication  referred  to  makes  inquiry 
concerning  him  and  his  posterity,  and  their  history  in  this  country. 
It  seems  that  he  was  a  Welshman,  a  man  of  great  genius  and  a  fine 
scholar,  who  wrote  one  of  the  best  poems  in  the  Welsh  language, 
concerning  Wales ;  and  a  Welsh  society  in  England  is  desirous  to 
erect  some  monument  to  his  memory  in  that  country.  All  the 
information  which  could  be  returned  was,  that  some  worthy  grand- 
children— two  females— were  living  in  Brunswick  in  reduced  cir- 
cumstances. No  tombstone,  no  inscription,  exists.  Perhaps  the 
place  of  his  interment  is  unknown.  In  the  year  1769,  the  .Rev. 
Mr.  Lundie  produces  a  certificate  from  the  Bishop  of  London  of 
his  ordination,  and  is  received  as  the  minister. 

The  entries  in  the  vestry-book  now  become  irregular  and  brief. 
The  war  of  the  Revolution  was  at  hand.  The  best  men  were  on 
the  field  or  in  the  councils  of  the  country.  Henry  Tazwell,  an 
active  member  of  the  vestry,  was  taking  an  active  part  in  the 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  479 

affairs  of  the  country.     The  ministers  lost  their  salaries ;  'the  glebes 
were  for  the  most  part  scarcely  worth  having,  and  the  glebe-houses 
tumbling  over  their  heads.    The  Rev.  Mr.  Lundie  was  among  the  few 
who  continued  at  his  post  during  the  war.     His  name  is  seen  on 
the  Journal  of  the  Convention  in  1785,  which  met  in  Richmond  to 
organize  the  diocese  and  unite  in  the  general  confederation  of  the 
Church  m  America.     He  was  then  the  minister  of  the  churches  in 
Greensville  as  well  as  Brunswick.     After  this  he  became  a  minis- 
ter  of  the  Methodist   communion.     The   names  of  Drury  Stith 
John  Jones,  Thomas  Claiborne,  appear  among  the  lay  delegates! 
They  were  probably  among  the  last  who  despaired  of  the  Church 
in  this  region.     It  is  believed  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Grammar  in  1827 
was,  longo  intervallo,  the  regular  successor  to  Mr.  Lundie.     The 
Rev.  Messrs.  Jarratt,  Tucker,  and  Cameron,  from  the  adjoining 
counties  of  Dinwiddie  and  Lunenburg,  doubtless  performed  many 
ministerial  offices  there  during  their  ministries. 

In  giving  a  list  of  the  clergy  in  Bath  parish,  from  Mr.  Grammar's 
time  to  the  present,  we  have  given  the  list  of  the  ministers  of  St. 
Andrew's  parish,  as  they  were  under  the  same  ministry,  with  the 
exception  of  the  three  last,— the  Revs.  Messrs.  Berger,  Johnson,  and 
Mower,  whose  services  have  been  confined  to  Brunswick,  while  Bath 
parish  had  its  own.  Under  the  auspices  of  these  ministers  of  our 
resuscitated  Church  in  Brunswick,  three  new  churches  have  been 
built,  one  at  Lawrenceville,  another  about  twelve  miles  off,  called 
Wilkin's  Chapel,  from  the  name  of  him  who  built  it  at  his  own  ex- 
pense, and  the  third  about  eighteen  miles  from  Lawrenceville. 

The  following  is  the  list  of  vestrymen  from  the  year  1732  to 
1786 :— Henry  Embra,  John  Wall,  Richard  Burch,  Wm.  Machen, 
Wm.  Wynne,  Charles  King,  Wm.  Smith,  Thomas  Wilson,  Robert 
Dyer,  Nicholas  Lanier,  Wm.  Hagwood,  Batt  Peterson,  Nathaniel 
Edwards,  James  Mitchell,  Clement  Read,  George  Walter,  John 
Ligleport,  Littleton  Tazwell,  Nicholas  Edmonds,  John  Clack, 
Thomas  Switty,  Henry  Edmonds,  Robert  Briggs,  Edward  Good- 
rich, Heagle  Williams,  John  Petway,  Samson  Lanier,  William 
Thornton,  W.  Edwards,  Henry  Cocke,  Alexander  Watson,  Thomas 
Stith,  Frederick  Machen,  Francis  Willis,  Henry  Tazwell,  Joseph 
Poeples,  Richard  Elliott,  William  Batte,  Thomas  Edmonds,  Wm. 
Machen,  Buckner  Stith,  Benjamin  Blick,  Birrus  Jones,  Andrew 
Meade,  John  Stith,  John  B.  Goldsberry.  Among  the  above- 
mentioned  vestrymen  we  read  the  names  of  Clement  Read,  Little- 
ton and  Henry  Tazwell.  Of  the  first  we  shall  speak  when  we  find 
his  name  on  the  vestry-book  of  Cumberland  parish,  Lunenburg,  when 


480  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

separated  from  Brunswick.  For  notices  of  the  two  Tazwells,  we 
refer  to  Mr.  Grigsby's  book  on  the  Convention  of  1776.  The 
first  was  descended  from  "William  Tazwell,  who  came  from  Somer- 
setshire in  1715,  and  married  a  daughter  of  Colonel  Southey 
Littleton.  His  son  Littleton  resided  in  Brunswick  and  was  an 
active  vestryman  and  churchwarden.  His  grandson  Henry  was 
born  there,  and  became  a  lawyer  of  eminence.  He  married  a  Miss 
Waller.  He  was  the  father  of  the  present  Littleton  Waller  Taz- 
well. After  distinguishing  himself  as  a  statesman  and  patriot  in 
the  House  of  Burgesses,  and  in  other  causes  during  and  after  the 
war,  he  was  raised  to  the  bench  of  the  Court  of  Appeals,  and  then 
appointed  Senator  of  the  United  States  in  the  place  of  Mr.  John 
Taylor,  of  Caroline,  and  in  opposition  to  Mr.  Madison. 

MEHERRIN    PARISH    IN   THE    COUNTY    OF    GREENSVILLE. 

This  parish  was  separated  from  St.  Andrew's  parish,  Brunswick, 
in  1753.  No  vestry-book  being  extant  or  in  our  possession  if 
extant,  we  can  only  ascertain,  from  such  lists  of  the  ministers  as 
we  have,  who  belonged  to  this  parish.  In  the  year  1754  we  find 
the  name  of  John  Navison,  and  also  in  1758,  as  the  pastor  of  this 
parish.  In  the  years  1773-74-76,  the  Rev.  Arthur  Emmerson 
was  the  minister.  In  the  year  1791  the  Rev.  Stephen  Johnson 
was  the  minister  for  that  year,  and  that  only.  From  that  time 
it  is  supposed  a  deathlike  silence  pervaded  the  churches,  so  far  as 
Episcopal  services  were  concerned,  until  of  late  years.  The  Rev. 
Edward  E.  McGuire  was  sent  as  missionary  to  Greensville,  Sussex, 
and  Southampton,  in  1842.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Withers  succeeded  him 
in  Sussex  and  Southampton,  and  was  succeeded  in  Greensville  by 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Sprigg  in  1846.  The  Rev.  W.  D.  Hanson  also  spent 
one  year  in  Greensville.  In  the  time  of  Mr.  Sprigg,  in  the  year 
1848,  a  neat  and  comfortable  house  of  worship  was  formed  out  of 
a  large  barn  or  stable,  and,  under  the  ministry  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Robert  and  of  his  predecessors,  a  tolerable  congregation  has  been 
raised  up  in  this  waste  place  of  our  Zion.  I  am  further  informed, 
by  a  letter  which  had  escaped  my  notice  when  writing  the  fore- 
going, that  before  the  division  of  Meherrin  from  St.  Andrew's  there 
were  two  churches  in  it,  to  which  two  more  were  added,  one  near  the 
Carolina  line,  and  one  on  the  Meherrin  River,  three  or  four  miles 
west  of  Hicksford.  A  third  was  Grassy  Pond  Church,  the  traces 
of  whose  foundation  may  yet  be  seen ;  the  fourth  was  near  Poplar 
Mount.  All  of  them  being  cheap  churches,  of  wood,  as  nine- 
tenths  of  the  Colonial  churches  were,  soon  perished.  There  is  a 


FAMILIES  OP  VIRGINIA.  481 

tradition,  that,  besides  the  above,  a  Mr.  Fanning  was  the  minister 
of  this  parish,  and  was  too  favourable  to  the  British ;  but  I  cannot 
find  his  name  on  any  of  my  lists,  before,  during,  and  after  the  war, 
and  do  not  believe  that  there  was  one  of  his  name  in  Virginia. 
That  the  British  under  Arnold  did  not  receive  favour  in  the  whole 
of  the  parish  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  there  is  a  place  near  one 
of  the  churches  to  this  day  called  Dry  Bread,  because  they  would 
let  them  have  nothing  else  to  eat  there.  There  are  two  churches 
now  in  the  county,  of  recent  erection, — Christ  Church,  Hicksford, 
and  Grace  Church,  twelve  miles  off. 


482  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 


ARTICLE  XLV. 

Parishes  in  Lunenburg^  Mecklenburg,  and   Charlotte  Counties. 
Cumberland  Parish. 

IN  the  year  1745,  Lunenburg  county  and  Cumberland  parish 
were  cut  off  from  Brunswick.  In  the  year  1764,  Lunenburg  county 
embraced  all  that  is  now  Lunenburg,  Mecklenburg,  and  Charlotte. 
There  had  been,  previous  to  this,  three  parishes  in  it, — viz. :  Cum- 
berland, St.  James's,  and  Cornwall.  In  that  year  it  was  divided 
into  three  counties  also,  commensurate  with  the  above-mentioned 
parishes, — Cumberland  parish  being  in  Lunenburg,  St.  James's  in 
Mecklenburg,  and  Cornwall  in  Charlotte.  We  shall  now  present 
what  information  we  have  about  the  parish  of  Cumberland,  in  Lu- 
nenburg. The  vestry-book  which  we  have  commences  in  1746, 
just  after  the  parish  and  county  were  cut  off  from  Brunswick,  and 
when  they  embraced  all  of  Mecklenburg  and  Charlotte,  and  that 
which  was  afterward,  in  1752,  cut  off  and  made  Halifax  county 
and  Antrim  parish,  which,  as  we  shall  see,  was  again  divided  into 
Pittsylvania  and  Halifax.  At  the  time  we  commence  with  Cum- 
berland parish,  it  therefore  comprehended  all  the  territory  which 
is  now  Lunenburg,  Mecklenburg,  Charlotte,  Halifax,  and  Pittsyl- 
vania, to  which  we  may  add  Henry,  Franklin,  and  Patrick. 

In  the  first  year  after  the  establishment  of  the  parish, — viz.  : 
1746, — the  vestry  ordered  a  chapel  forty-eight  feet  by  twenty- 
four  to  be  built  near  Reedy  Creek.  This  was  near  Lunenburg 
Court-House.  It  was  consumed  by  fire  between  thirty  and  forty 
years  since,  during  the  ministry  of  Rev.  Mr.  Philips.  Committees 
also  were  appointed  to  select  places  for  a  chapel  and  reading- 
house,  near  Otter  River  and  the  Fork  of  Roanoke  ;  and  another 
committee  the  following  year  for  purchasing  a  site  for  a  chapel  on 
Little  Roanoke.  In  the  year  1748,  the  following  communication 
between  the  vestry  and  the  Governor  confirms  what  I  have  pre- 
viously said  as  to  the  relation  between  vestries  and  Governors : — 

*<  Letters  commendatory  from  Sir  William  Gooch,  Baronett  and 
Lieutenant-Governor,  and  Mr.  Commissary  Dawson,  in  favour  of  the 


FAMILIES  OF   VIRGINIA. 

Rev.  John  Brunskill  being  presented  to  the  vestry:  they  are  willin*  to 
pay  all  due  respect  and  deference  to  the  Governor's  and  Mr.  Commis- 
sary's recommendation,  and  are  willing  to  receive  the  said  Mr.  Brunskill 
into  this  parish  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  for  one  year,  and  at  the 
expiration  thereof  to  cause  to  be  paid  him  the  salary  by  law  appointed. 
But,  forasmuch  as  they  are  not  willing  to  be  compelled  to  entertain  and 
receive  any  minister  other  than  such  as  may  answer  the  end  of  his 
ministerial  function,  they  only  intend  to  entertain  and  receive  him  as  a 
probationer  for  one  year,  being  fully  minded  and  desirous  that,  if  they 
should  in  that  time  disapprove  his  conduct  or  behaviour,  they  may  have 
it  in  their  power  to  choose  another." 

This  was  signed  by  Lewis  Deloney,  Clement  Read,*  William 
Howard,  Lyddall  Bacon,  David  Stokes,  Thomas  Bouldin,  Abraham 
Martin,  John  Twitty,  Matthew  Talbot,  vestrymen. 

It  would  appear  that  the  vestrymen  had  not  been  inactive  in  the 
erection  of  churches  daring  the  two  years  since  entering  on  their 
office,  for  the  contract  with  Mr.  Brunskill,  to  preach  at  the  four 
churches  already  built,  and  at  another  place  on  South  River,  and 
two  others,  are  determined  on  this  year.  Mr.  Brunskill  remained 
but  one  year ;  and,  if  he  was  the  man  who  so  disgraced  himself  and 
the  Church  in  Fauquier  soon  after  this,  the  vestry  did  wisely  in 
their  mode  of  engaging  with  him.  There  were  three  John  Bruns- 
kills  in  the  Church  of  Virginia  at  this  time, — one  of  whom  died  in 
Amelia.  The  Rev.  George  Purdie  is  the  next  minister.  They 
are  yet  more  careful  in  their  contract  with  him ;  for,  although  re- 
commended by  the  President  of  the  Council,  Mr.  Burwell,  and  Com- 
missary Dawson,  they  will  only  receive  him  on  trial  for  six  months, 
and  agree  with  him  that  either  party  may  dissolve  the  connection 
by  giving  six  months'  notice.  He  remained  about  eighteen  months, 
and,  having  occasion  to  visit  England,  resigned  his  charge.  The 
vestry,  however,  speak  well  of  his  conduct  while  he  was  their  minis- 
ter. On  his  return  from  England,  (if  he  went,)  he  became  in  the 
following  year  minister  of  St.  Andrew's  in  Brunswick,  as  we  have 
seen.  In  the  year  1751,  the  Rev.  William  Kay,  of  whom  we  shall 
have  more  to  say  in  another  place,  became  the  minister  on  a  pro- 

*  Clement  Read,  mentioned  above,  was  one  of  the  most  influential  men  in 
Lunenburg,  as  that  county  originally  was  laid  out.  He  was  the  first  clerk  of  the 
court,  having  been  appointed  in  1745,  and  became  the  head  of  a  numerous  family. 
His  son  Isaac  was  the  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  4th  Virginia  Regiment,  and  died 
in  the  service  at  Philadelphia.  His  son  Thomas  was  also  a  leading  man  in  tho 
Revolution,  was  county-lieutenant  of  Charlotte,  and  was  clerk  of  the  court  of  Char- 
lotte for  almost  half  a  century.  One  of  the  daughters  of  Clement  Read  married 
Judge  Paul  Carrington  the  elder,  and  nearly  all  the  Carringtoiis  of  Charlotte  and 
Halifax  are  the  results  of  that  marriage." 


484  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

bation  of  two  years,  with  tfte  understanding  that  either  party  might 
be  released  at  the  end  of  one  year.  Mr.  Kay,  being  a  worthy 
minister,  remained  with  them  until  his  death  in  1755.  In  1756,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Barclay  became  the  minister,  on  the  condition  that  he 
or  the  vestry  might  dissolve  the  relation  at  a  moment's  warning. 
After  continuing  one  year  and  some  months,  Mr.  Barclay  resigns, 
and  recommends  to  the  vestry  to  give  a  title  to  the  parish  to 
Mr.  James  Craig,  student  of  divinity,  in  order  that  he  might  ob- 
tain Orders, — that  being  necessary  according  to  the  English  canons. 
They  agree  to  this,  as  they  did  a  few  years  after  to  Mr.  Jarratt, 
but  only  on  condition  of  his  entering  into  bond,  with  proper  secu- 
rity, that  he  shall  not  by  virtue  of  this  title  insist  upon  being  the 
minister  of  this  parish  if  he  shall  not  be  found  agreeable  to  the 
gentlemen  of  the  vestry  and  the  parishioners,  after  trial.  This 
was  the  common  custom  of  the  vestries  in  Virginia  in  regard  to 
those  who  were  only  candidates  for  the  ministry  and  wished  to  be 
able  to  comply  with  the  canon  and  obtain  Orders.  In  the  year 
1759,  the  Rev.  James  Craig  becomes  their  minister.  About  this 
time  several  other  chapels  are  ordered. 

After  a  few  years  Mr.  Craig  thinks  of  leaving  the  parish ;  and 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Jarratt,  who  was  about  to  go  to  England  for  Orders, 
receives  a  title  on  the  same  condition  which  had  been  agreed  on 
with  Mr.  Craig.  Mr.  Craig,  however,  still  continues  in  the  parish 
until  his  death  in  1795.  He  appears  to  have  had  the  esteem  of 
the  people.  A  good  glebe  and  glebe-house  are  prepared  for  him, 
and  he  was  allowed  to  practise  medicine  in  connection  with  his 
ministry.  At  one  time — about  1790 — he  appears  to  have  left  the 
parish,  or  to  have  been  officiating  in  some  parish  or  parishes  around, 
as  the  vestry  pass  an  order  that  if  he  will  return  to  the  parish  and 
preach  every  Sabbath  they  will  raise  sixty  pounds  for  him.  Whe- 
ther the  sixty  pounds  was  raised  or  not,  he  appears  to  have  la- 
boured in  his  old  parish  until  his  death.  His  ministry  was  of  thirty- 
fire  or  thirty-six  years'  duration  in  this  one  parish. 

Mr.  Craig  united  the  practice  of  medicine  with  the  duties  of 
the  ministry.  Whether  it  was  from  the  necessity  of  obtaining  a 
support  for  his  family,  or  from  charity  to  the  poor,  I  cannot  say. 
He  prospered  in  his  worldly  matters.  His  glebe  was  larger  and 
better  than  most  of  those  in  the  State,  and  he  was  a  better 
manager.  He  had  a  mill  of  his  own,  and  during  the  war  it  was  a 
kind  of  storehouse  for  public  provisions.  Tarleton,  knowing  this> 
and  that  Mr.  Craig  was  a  true  American  and  zealous  in  the  cause 
of  the  Revolution,  took  the  mill  in  his  route,  and,  after  he  and 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  485 

his  men  had  feasted  on  Mr.  Craig's  good  mutton  and  fed  their 
horses  on  his  corn,  caused  all  the  barrels  of  flour  to  be  rolled  into 
the  mill-pond  and  the  whole  establishment  to  be  burned  down. 

To  Mr.  Craig  the  Rev.  John  Cameron  succeeded.  He  was  one 
of  four  brothers  who  came  from  Scotland, — one  of  them,  besides 
himself,  being  in  the  ministry.  The  family  was  ancient  and  highly 
respectable.  He  was  educated  in  King's  College,  Aberdeen,  was 
ordained  by  the  Bishop  of  Chester  in  1770,  and  came  over  that  year 
to  Virginia.  His  first  charge  was  St.  James's  Church,  Mecklen- 
burg. From  thence,  in  1784,  he  went  to  Petersburg,  and,  after 
spending  some  years  there,  removed  to  Nottoway  parish.  Mr. 
Jarratt,  in  speaking  of  the  migratory  course  of  the  clergy  for  want 
of  support  after  the  Revolution,  says, — 

"  Among  others,  we  have  a  recent  instance  of  this  in  the  case  of  Dr. 
Cameron,  whom  you  saw  at  my  house  as  a  visitor.  He  then  lived  at 
Petersburg.  But,  induced  by  necessity,  having  a  large  and  increasing 
family,  he  removed  into  a  parish  above  me,  called  Nottoway,  where  the 
vestry  obligated  themselves  to  pay  him  a  hundred  pounds  annually  for 
three  years  successively.  But,  meeting  with  no  assistance  from  any  one 
of  the  people,  the  whole  fell  upon  themselves  alone.  This  burden  they 
found  too  weighty,  and  it  caused  them  to  wish  to  get  rid  of  the  incum- 
bent, which  I  am  told  they  have  effected,  and  Dr.  Cameron  is  now  the 
minister  of  a  parish  in  Lunenberg  county.  Few  or  none  of  the  people 
would  go  to  hear  him,  (at  least  very  seldom,)  and  very  few  of  the  vestry 
made  a  constant  practice  of  going  to  church,  as  I  have  been  informed,  so 
that  frequently  his  congregation  would  not  exceed  five  or  six  hearers. 
Surely  this  was  enough  to  weary  him  out  and  make  him  think  of  new 
quarters." 

His  new  quarters  not  being  in  this  respect  sufficient  for  his 
support,  he  was  obliged  to  resort  to  school-keeping,  and  had  a 
select  classical  school,  for  which,  by  his  scholarship,  he  was  emi- 
nently fitted.  He  was  made  Doctor  of  Divinity  by  William  and 
Mary  College.  If  for  his  strictness  he  was  even  then  complained 
of,  how  would  such  a  school  as  his  be  now  endured,  by  either 
parents  or  children  ?  By  nature  stern  and  authoritative,  he  was 
born  and  educated  where  the  discipline  of  schools  and  families 
was  more  than  Anglican.  It  was  Caledonian.  But  he  made  fine 
scholars.  There  is  one  at  least  now  alive,  who  is  an  instance  of 
this,  and  bears  testimony  to  it.  His  sincere  piety  and  great 
uprightness  commanded  the  respect  of  all,  if  his  stern  appearance 
and  uncompromising  strictness  prevented  a  kindlier  feeling.  I 
never  saw  him  but  once,  and  then  only  for  a  few  hours  around  a 
committee-table  at  our  second  Convention  in  Richmond,  and  then 
received  a  rebuke  from  him ;  and,  though  it  was  not  for  an  unpar- 


486  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

% 

donable  sin,  yet  I  sincerely  thanked  him,  and  have  esteemed  him 
the  more  for  it  ever  since.  The  father's  piety  and  integrity  have 
descended  to  more  than  one  of  his  posterity.  Judge  Duncan 
Cameron,  of  North  Carolina,  was  his  son,  and  educated  by  him. 
Of  him  it  might  be  said  in  some  good  degree,  as  of  Sir  Matthew 
Hale,  "  A  light  saith  the  Pulpit,  a  light  saith  the  Bar."  Judge 
Walker  Anderson,  of  Florida,  is  his  grandson,  and  was  his  scholar, 
and  but  for  ill  health  would  have  been  in  the  ministry.  I  might 
speak  of  others,  but  it  enters  not  into  my  place  to  enlarge  more. 

Dr.  Cameron  continued  the  minister  of  Cumberland  parish  until 
his  death  in  1815.  He  was  buried  beside  his  daughter,  Anna  M. 
Cameron.  A  tombstone  has  been  erected  to  their  memory  by  his 
son,  of  whom  we  have  just  spoken, — the  late  Hon.  Duncan  Cameron, 
of  North  Carolina. 

About  three  or  four  years  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Cameron,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Philips,  of  whom  I  wrote  in  the  article  on  Hanover,  took 
charge  of  this  parish  and  continued  in  it  until  his  death.  During 
the  interval  between  the  death  of  Mr.  Cameron  and  the  coming  of 
Mr.  Philips,  Mr.  Ravenscroft,  of  Mecklenburg,  then  a  candidate 
for  Orders  in  Virginia,  was  recommended  by  Bishop  Moore  and 
accepted  by  the  vestry  as  lay  reader  in  the  parish. 

The  Rev.  Charles  Taliafero,  after  an  interval  of  some  years, 
succeeded  Mr.  Philips  in  1831,  and  for  six  years  laboured  most 
diligently  and  successfully,  being  the  means  under  God  of  rousing 
up  the  slumbering  energies  of  the  old  parish.  St.  John's  Church 
was  the  only  one  standing  in  the  parish  at  that  time.  Reedy  Creek 
Church  had  been  consumed  by  fire.  Being  deserted  of  worshippers, 
it  was  filled  with  fodder,  and  said  to  have  taken  fire  while  some 
negroes  were  playing  cards  in  it  by  night.  Old  Flatrock  Church 
had  been  disposed  of  and  the  proceeds  applied  to  the  building  of 
St.  John's.  St.  Paul's  was  built  during  the  ministry  of  the  honest 
and  zealous  Mr.  Taliafero.  At  his  entrance  upon  duty  there  were 
only  seven  regular  attending  communicants  in  the  parish.  During 
his  brief  ministry  forty-six  were  added  to  the  communion.  Mr. 
Taliafero  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Locke,  who  has  con- 
tinued to  be  the  minister  until  within  the  last  two  years.  The  Rev. 
Mr.  Henderson  is  its  present  rector. 

I  take  from  the  old  vestry-book  the  following  list  of  vestrymen : — 

Lewis  Deloney,  Clement  Read,  Matthew  Talbot,  Abraham  Martin, 
Lyddall  Bacon,  David  Stokes,  Daniel  Ferth,  Thomas  Bouldin,  John  Twitty, 
Field  Jefferson,  John  Edloe,  John  Cox,  Francis  Ellidge,  Luke  Smith, 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  487 

William  Embry  or  Embra,  Peter  Fontaine,  Robert  Wade,  George  Walton, 
Joseph  Morton,  Thomas  Hawkins,  William  Watkins,  Thomas  Nash,  John 
Speed,  Henry  Blagrove,  John  Jennings,  Matthew  Marraball,  John  Parrish, 
John  Ragsdale,  Daniel  Claiborne,  Edmund  Taylor,  Thomas  Pettis,  Thomas 
Lanier,  Thomas  Tabb,  William  Gee,  David  Garland,  John  Hobson,  George 
Philips,  Thomas  Wynne,  William  Taylor,  Thomas  Chambers,  Christopher 
Philips,  Benjamin  Tomlinson,  Charles  Warden,  Elisha  Betts,  Thomas 
Buford,  William  Harding,  David  Stokes,  John  Ballard,  Robert  Dixon, 
Anthony  Street,  Edward  Jordan,  Nicholas  Hobson,  Sterling  Niblett,  John 
Cureton,  Christopher  Robertson,  James  Buford,  Covington  Hardy,  Ellison 
Ellis,  J.  E.  Broadman,  William  Buford,  James  Smith,  Thomas  Stephen- 
son,  Bryan  Lester,  William  Glenn,  Obadiah  Clay,  William  Tucker,  Ed- 
mund P.  Bacon,  Thomas  Garland.  John  Street,  Henry  Stokes,  Peter 
Lamkin,  Philip  Jackson,  Thomas  Garland,  John  Billups,  David  Street, 
Peter  Eppes,  W.  Farmer,  James  McFarland,  Thomas  M.  Cameron,  Wil- 
liam Buford,  Jr. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  name  of  Buford  often  occurs  on  this  list. 
At  one  time  four  of  the  name  were  in  the  same  vestry.  To  Mr. 
Thomas  Buford,  a  pious  member  of  the  Church,  the  parish  is  now, 
and  has  been  for  a  long  time,  indebted  for  its  ability  to  support  a 
minister.  About  sixty  years  ago  he  left  an  estate  to  the  parish, 
which,  though  badly  managed,  has  rendered  effectual  aid  to  the 
vestry  in  the  support  of  a  minister. 

To  the  above  list  I  add  the  first  election  after  the  effort  at  re- 
viving the  Church  began: — David  Street,  Colonel  John  Street, 
William  Overton,  Roger  Atkinson,  Thomas  Atkinson,  James  Mc- 
Farland, Charles  Smith. 

ST.  JAMES'S  PARISH,  MECKLENBURG  COUNTY. 


This  parish  was  separated  from  Cumberland  parish,  Lunenburg, 
in  the  year  1761.  The  county  of  Mecklenburg  was  cut  off  from 
Lunenburg  in  1764.  The  City  Church,  as  it  is  called,  is  still  stand- 
ing, being  an  old  frame  building  with  a  number  of  old  Episcopal 
families  around  it,  who,  I  trust,  will  ever  be  as  willing  as  they  are 
able  to  sustain  a  minister.  Where  the  chapels  stood  I  am  unable 
to  say.  There  was  an  old  house  of  worship,  in  the  time  of  Bishop 
Ravenscroft's  ministry,  called  Speed's  Church,  which  I  believe  was 
one  of  former  days.  In  later  days  one  was  built  in  a  more  central 
place  and  called  St.  James's,  and  then  removed  to  another  position, 
and  then  abandoned  and  sold  for  the  purpose  of  building  one  at 
Boydton.  Another  has  been  built  about  twelve  miles  from  Boyd- 
ton  by  the  name  of  St.  Andrew's,  another  near  the  Carolina  line 
called  St.  Luke's,  and,  lastly,  one  at  Clarksville,  on  the  Roanoke. 

The  first  minister  of  this  parish  was  Mr.  John  Cameron,  of  whom 


488  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

% 

we  have  recently  spoken.  He  is  on  our  list  of  clergy  from  this 
parish  in  1774-76,  the  only  one  we  have  between  1754  and  1758 
and  1785.  It  is  probable  that  he  was  minister  in  Mecklenburg 
from  his  first  coming  into  this  country,  in  the  year  1770,  until 
1784,  when  he  moved  to  Petersburg ;  though  one  of  his  descendants 
informs  me  that  he  was  living  in  Charlotte  in  1771,  where  he 
married  a  Miss  Nash.  He  may  have  settled  there  first  and  after 
a  year  or  two  removed  to  Mecklenburg.  It  has  generally  been 
supposed  that  the  Rev.  George  Micklejohn  succeeded  to  Mr.  Came- 
ron, but  I  can  find  no  evidence  that  he  ever  was  the  regular 
minister  of  the  parish.  Although  there  were  Conventions  from  the 
year  1785  to  the  year  1805,  and  then  from  1812  to  the  present 
time,  his  name  never  appears  as  the  minister.  He  was  ordained 
for  North  Carolina  by  the  Bishop  of  London  in  1766,  and  removed, 
no  doubt,  from  thence  to  Virginia  and  settled  in  Mecklenburg.  He 
had  either  taught  school  in  Carolina  or  Virginia  before  the  Revo- 
lution, if  that  anecdote  be  true  which  is  related  of  him, — viz. :  that 
on  being  solicited  by  some  of  the  gentlemen,  after  the  war,  to  re- 
sume his  occupation  and  take  some  of  their  sons,  he  replied  that 
"he  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  their  little  American  democrats, 
for  that  it  was  hard  enough  to  manage  them  before  the  Revolution, 
and  now  it  would  be  impossible."  He  lived  to  a  great  age,  was  a 
man  of  peculiar  character,  and  never  calculated  to  be  useful  in  the 
ministry.  He  preached  very  often  in  Mecklenburg,  but  to  very 
small  congregations,  not  always  to  two  or  three,  himself  and  an  old 
brother  Scotchman  being  on  one  occasion  the  whole  assembly: 
nevertheless,  the  sermon  w,as  preached.  He  lived  some  years  after 
Mr.  Ravenscroft's  ministry  commenced.  The  latter  tells  the  fol- 
lowing anecdote  of  him : — On  a  certain  occasion,  when  he  (Mr.  R.) 
was  preaching  on  the  various  testimonies  to  the  truth  and  excellency 
of  religion,  he  alluded  to  the  comfort  of  it  to  the  aged  and  to  their 
dying  witness  to  it,  and,  pointing  to  old  Mr.  Micklejohn,  who  was 
present  and  before  him,  told  the  congregation  that  there  was  the 
testimony  of  a  century  to  our  holy  religion,  supposing  him  to  have 
lived  his  century ;  but  Mr.  M.  immediately  corrected  him,  crying 
aloud,  in  broad  Scotch,  "Naw,  naw,  mon, — ninety-aught,  ninety- 
aught,'*  But  he  outlived  a  century.  Mr.  Ravenscroft  was  the  first 
minister  of  the  parish  after  the  relinquishment  of  it  by  Mr.  Cameron 
in  1784.  He  was  of  an  ancient  Virginia  family,  to  be  found  about 
Williamsburg  and  Petersburg,  according  to  the  records  of  the  House 
of  Burgesses  and  the  vestry-books.  He  himself  was  related  to  old 
Lady  Skipwith,  of  Mecklenburg.  He  was  educated  at  Williams- 


FAMILIES   OP  VIRGINIA.  489 

burg.  John  Randolph,  who  was  there  at  the  same  time,  used  to 
say  that  his  nickname  was  Mad  Jack  while  there,  and  that  he  de- 
served it  long  after  by  reason  of  the  vehemence  of  his  temper, 
speech,  and  manners.  The  religion  of  Christ  took  strong  hold  of 
him,  and  made  a  great  change  in  his  views  and  character,  so  that 
he  felt  necessity  laid  upon  him  to  preach  the  Gospel.  He  at  first 
united  himself  to  the  Methodists,  but,  on  examination,  gave  the 
preference  to  the  Church  of  his  fathers,  and  became  a  lay  reader 
in  Mecklenburg  and  Lunenburg,  producing  no  little  effect  by  his 
most  impressive  and  emphatic  manner.  In  the  year  1817  he  was 
minister  of  St.  James's  parish,  in  which  he  continued  until  his 
election  to  the  Bishopric  of  North  Carolina.  He  was  succeeded 
by  the  Rev.  "William  Steele,  who  was  followed  by  the  Rev.  Francis 
McGuire.  He  continued  its  minister  until  obliged  to  retire  from 
full  duty  by  reason  of  ill  health,  though  he  still  lives  in  it  and 
performs  some  services.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Chesley  took  the  place  of 
Mr.  McGuire,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Rodman.  It  is 
now  vacant. 

Although  there  is  no  vestry-book  of  the  church  in  Mecklenburg 
from  which  to  give  a  list  of  the  early  vestrymen  from  the  year 
1761,  we  cannot  forbear  the  mention  of  a  few  names  of  persons  well 
known  to  us,  who  contributed  much  to  its  revival  after  the  year 
1812.  Major  John  Nelson,  son  or  grandson  of  old  Secretary 
Thomas  Nelson,  of  York,  settled  toward  the  close  of  the  last 
century  in  Mecklenburg,  on  the  Roanoke.  The  Rev.  Alexander 
Hay,  of  whom  we  shall  read  when  we  come  to  Halifax  county,  re- 
sided as  teacher  in  his  family.  The  old  man  and  his  numerous 
sons  entered  zealously  into  measures  for  the  revival  of  the  Church. 
Mr.  John  Nelson,  Mr.  Robert  Nelson,  and  Major  Thomas  Nelson, 
especially,  were  the  active  coadjutors  of  Mr.  Ravenscroft  and  his 
successors  in  raising  up  the  prostrate  Church  in  Mecklenburg. 
The  names  of  all  of  them  are  to  be  seen  on  the  journals  of  our 
State  Conventions,  and  those  of  two  of  them  on  the  list  of  delegates 
to  the  General  Convention.  Major  Thomas  Nelson  signalized 
himself  in  the  last  war  with  England,  and  was  for  some  time  a 
member  of  Congress  from  his-  district.  He  recently  died  at  Co- 
lumbus, in  Georgia,  to  which  State  he  removed  some  years  since, 
beloved  and  esteemed  by  all  who  knew  him.  To  these  I  might  add 
the  venerable  name  of  Goode  and  his  descendants,  and  the  Lewises, 
Cunninghams,  Baskervilles,  Alexanders,  Colemans,  Sturdivants, 
Tarrys,  Daily,  and  others. 


490      OLD    CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,   AND   FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA. 


CORNWALL  PARISH,  IN  THE  COUNTY  OF  CHARLOTTE. 

The  county  of  Charlotte  was  taken  from  Lunenburg  in  the  year 
1764.  The  parish  was  separated  from  Cumberland  parish,  Lu- 
nenburg, in  the  year  1755,  nine  years  before.  On  the  list  of  clergy 
for  the  years  1773,  1774,  and  1776,  we  find  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Johnson  assigned  to  this  parish.  We  cannot  ascertain  that  any 
other  ever  was  the  regular  pastor  of  this  parish ;  but  from  the 
family  Bible  of  old  Colonel  Carrington,  of  Charlotte,'  we  ascertain 
that  the  following  ministers  officiated  in  baptizing  between  the 
years  1755  and  1762:— The  Revs.  William  Key,  John  Berkeley, 
James  Garden,  William  Craig,  and  Alexander  Hay.  Some  of  them 
were  certainly  ministers  of  surrounding  parishes ;  some  of  them  may 
have  been  ministers  of  this. 


END    OF  VOL.  I. 


PLEASE  DO  NOT  REMOVE 
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UNIVERSITY  OF  TORONTO  LIBRARY 


F 

225 

MM9 

1861 

V.I 

C.I 

ROBA 


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